Henley Monday -

Henley Monday - Gooooood MORNING! We are coming at you live from the bowels of McCormick Place where I am valiantly battling a terrible flu to hand out plates to hungry conventioneers. I'm very brave. And also on a lot of cold medicine if I can shoot straight with you. Which brings us to this guy! He's another Random Henley, but boy isn't he nice to look at? He looks like he's leaning in to tell you a secret. What's that, love? You love the way I sound with a post-nasal drip? You DO care!!! Now bring me some soup tout suit!

Henley Monday -A Day Late and a Dollar Short

It's finally happened. After months of consistently bringing you Henley Monday on Monday, I forgot to post yesterday. I could make an excuse about this or that, but seriously I just plain forgot until about ten minutes ago which makes me pretty awful.

But look! Look you guys. Look at Drake. Look at how chic his ensemble is. He has his henley layered, buttoned up, and even accessorized. He knows his Christmas so that heart wants to spread love this season, and he's obviously throwing up a peace sign to bring peace and good will to all. Good will even to those bloggers who forget their weekly duties sometimes.

Peace. Love. Henleys. Merry Christmas, y'all.

Henley Monday - I'm back from England and your good graces!!! This week we will be having an unprecedented THREE RECAP WEEK due to the back log caused by my travels abroad. Also to appeal to your lovely hearts, I give you this picture of absolute heartthrob Chris Messina aka Danny Castellano of The Mindy Project. It's apt because Chris Messina is always apt, but Fox just announced that The Mindy Project will only be returning for a fifteen episode third season. This is not the kiss of death necessarily for the show, but it is SO HARD to consider not getting our full dose of Lahiri/Castellano gold. OUR LIVES ARE HARD. But we prevail. Thanks to images like the above.

My favorite scene in Bridesmaids is the entire airplane scene, but this snippet is the best of the best. While not specifically at the wedding, I think it still counts as a great moment in film nuptials.

The best part: The absolute straight delivery of Steve/Stove.

"Are you an appliance?"

"No. I'm a man. And my name is Steve."

"You're a flight attendant."

"That is absolutely accurate."

My BEST posts of 2013

19 notes

30 notes

29 notes

47 notes

7 notes

35 notes

15 notes

15 notes

26 notes

57 notes

65 notes

9 notes

Generated using the best of tumblr tool.

I saw this a couple weeks ago, and even then, I was jumping on the Dujardin train a little late.  Now that he's won some much deserved Oscar gold for his role in the Artist, I wanted to make sure everyone else on the train had seen this piece of comedy excellence.

Also, that they've seen this...

...and this, taken shortly after he proclaimed his love for both the American people and our cinnamon rolls.

May his flame be a long burning one.

Tuxedo Time - The Best Looking Men dressed in their Sunday Best

Ok, so maybe on Henley Monday I promised a Tuxedo Tuesday. And maybe yesterday there was a blizzard and I also go distracted and forgot to make the post. Maybe that's all true. But HERE. NOW. I bring you a plethora of photos from Hollywood's Biggest Night.

I bring you...Men In Tuxedos at the Oscars!

First, let's walk down the red carpet....

If you look closely, you can see Mr. Tveit's striped socks. I love a man who has a bit of whimsy when it comes to his dress socks.

Next up is Aaron "Enjolras" Tveit's Les Mis buddy Eddie Redmayne rocking the hell out of his velvet slippers.

Chris Pine went for the double breasted jacket. I die. I just die. He's not alone in his refusal to shave either. Many, many actors declined to rid themselves of facial hair for the black tie event.

This picture of Joseph Gordon Levitt shows the detail on his tux. The fabric has a bit of texture to it, as well as the piping details. I can't tell if the piping is silk or leather. I really want it to be leather.

Bradley Cooper brought his mom! He brought his adorable and precocious mom! She has on a pink ostrich feather stole AND tennis shoes! Brad's three-piece Tom Ford also rule and even though his hair is yucky he looks fine.

My personal fave Chris Evans brought his proud momma along too! She looks radiant. Chris, I love a good bow tie, but I get that's not quite your style.

Then the show started and more men tromped out on stage including this fine selection of male specimen from the Avengers. Samuel L. Jackson gets major points for going with that garnet velvet. Love it.

A whole bunch of awards were given out and the biggest one of the night went to Ben Affleck for Argo! He dressed the part of a best picture winner with a one button, silk lapel jacket, vest, and silk bow-tie! DAMN, AFFLECK, YOUR FACE IS AGING AS WELL AS YOUR CAREER!

Basically I was looking at my TV like this all night long:

Tribute Time: Best of Game of Thrones Finale

The Top 5 Best Parts of Sunday's Game of Thrones Season 2 Finale

5) The Westerosi Wedding Vows - "I am his, and he is mine, from this day, until the end of my days" Dayum, Robb Stark, you always look razor fine in that fur cape, even when marrying a girl with a honker nose and breaking a pretty important vow/treaty. Except, duh, Robb would not be saying his vows to the Seven, but rather his father's Old Gods of the North.

                    4) Theon's Speech and Subsequent Concussion - We have all been wanting all season for Theon to get a serious blow to the brains, and we finally got one! It did, however, come from one of his own men after he gave, truly, a "good speech". What is dead, may never die, Theon, but what is douchey may always be bitch slapped. FOR WINTERFELL!

                           3) Tyrion Lannister - Can we just give Peter Dinklage all the awards for acting we have? Let's just give him all of them forever and ever amen. I mean that scene with Shae, COME ON! He is a Lannister who makes me feel feelings OTHER than rage and disgust!!! PS - Yay, Podrick Payne!

                     2) Jaqen H'ghar - Sexual Bad Ass and Faceless Man. Is valar morghulis Braavosi for, "let's make out"? I hope so, Jaqen, but can it be with your old face and red hair, not the new guy?

                  1) Dracarys - Daenerys Targaryen once again shutting it down with her dragons and fire and magic and righteous punishments for treasonous jerks and all around amazingness and perfectly flawless hair. You are blood of my blood, Khaleesi.

            Honorable Mention: The Others' Arrival; Brienne Serves Lady Catelyn; Joffrey Baratheon Hitting on Margaery Tyrell; Sansa's Wee Smile after Getting Dumped in the Throne Room

                           You doin' alright, Joff? Oh what, that? Yeah, no, that's how they always dress in Highgarden. Oh? It's...no, it's okay, your grace, it happens to every man.

The Bachelorette - Episode 8 Recap

It's hometowns, y'all! In what always promises to be, and frequently delivers, a very full episode of shenanigans, drama and love. Des is also defying all laws of logic and reason and bringing back her brother to talk about the guys.

Before we get to that circus, let's start with a real freak show: Zak and his family in Dallas, Texas. Des seems to be as shocked as we are about Zak making it far enough to meet his family. He warns us that if we think he's crazy (we do), his family is really crazy (oh God). Zak and Des have the first part of their day in a pretty park. He really won't let the sketching/art thing go, so he's once again toting a sketch book to show he’s artsy and likes things she likes?

Not caring about other people’s dreams has been the butt of everyone’s jokes lately, but Zak is blissfully unaware as he tells Des a really long, weird, and involved dream he had about her the night before. You can see the confusion written on her pretty little face. Then Zak leaves her by a gazebo and returns in…a sno-cone truck? That is a part of his life? Am I missing something? Is the fluid for which he is a drilling engineer high fructose corn syrup? It’s the “family sno-cone business”, so I guess that’s a thing.

The sno-cone truck whisks them away to an elementary school where they are schilling out sno-cones to screaming children. The mob pounds their sticky little hands on the truck and hug Zak as he runs out in a giant penguin suit. The two basically treat this as a test for how the other would be as a parent because neither is running away screaming from the throngs of children. I hate this. Come on, bro. This joi de vivre can only go so far and ONE SKETCHBOOK does not a serious person make.

“This is where I get my lunacy from, and I just hope they don’t scare Desiree off,” Zak confides to camera. As soon as they walk in the house, the family explodes to say hello. His family is completely flabbergasted as Zak tells them about his limo entrance. They also have a kind of forced joy that is exhausting. If you told me any of them had sincerely been circus performers at one point in life, I would believe you.

Desiree has the talks with the family and one by one wins them over. Mom Maryann is convinced they’re meant to be. Sister is guarded though because she doesn’t want him to get hurt. Oh sister, prepare yourself for the worst. Zak and his mom talk about how long he’s been waiting for a worthwhile love, and the whole time I’m just cringing because I am 99% sure, sparing any real fights or showdowns, that Zak is not getting a rose tonight.

Oh good now the real horror show is beginning because Zak and his brother and sister will now sing the song Zak wrote in Atlantic City only now “the words have been changed to reflect how my family feels about you.” Three part harmony, two parts the sister is treating this like an audition, one part his brother actually seems pretty chill and has a great voice. Oh my god let me die: “Oh Desiree, now we can see/ Your place among our family!”

The time has officially come for Zak to finally tell Desiree that he is in love with her. He takes out a box that he’s been carrying around since he bought it in Atlantic City, warns her not to freak out, and shows her this cheap little chachki ring. It symbolizes his love and commitment for her. She maintains a calm face as they kiss.

Oh poor Zak. Poor, poor Zak. He tells us, “Needless to say, five years down the road, Des and I will still be together and we’ll look back on today as the perfect day.” Oh no, oh sweetie. He says more and more stuff of that ilk and I’m more and more sad for his impending broken heart.

Now we’re headed to Scottsdale, Arizona to meet Drew’s family. The first thing Drew and Des do is hug and kiss a bunch which again is a kiss of death for Zak since he and Des barely kissed. Let’s leave Zak out of this though. Drew is too cute.

We’ll be meeting Drew’s dad Mal, his mom Linda and his step-dad Bob, brother Mal, sister Angela, sister Meghan and her husband and their two kids. That’s…a lot. Drew also tells Desiree that this is the first time his Dad is going to his mom’s house. Yikes.

We also have to go pick up his sister Melissa, the one with a dependent mental handicap. She lives in a house with two other girls in a similar situation and a few full-time care takers. That is amazing. I really appreciate that up until this point, we hadn’t heard much about Melissa from Drew. He wasn’t exploiting her as a way to get screen time/close to Des. I mean she’s here now, but that seems like more a genuine “I want you to meet everyone in my family and she’s an important part of that” thing. The smile on Drew’s face as he greets his sister and looks at her is blinding. Ugh. So adorable.

Eleven. Eleven is the total number of people at this family gathering. I guess they are all important, but still, talk about overwhelming. They put over four bottles of wine on the table though, so I like this family already.

Drew’s mom is protective of her baby of the family, but the way Drew talks about her to his mom convinces her (and me SHEESH). Then Drew’s Dad tells Desiree that angels are real because Melissa is a real life angel and THAT IS BEAUTIFUL. He is so cute. His mom is teary eyed at his conviction when he says “I could get down on one knee for her.” His dad is very sincere, a little intense, but sweet. He gives Drew his blessing by saying, “If you want to marry this girl, I’ll throw you a party.”

This was the picture of what a great hometown date should be. “I want to join Drew’s family right now. I want to stay,” says Desiree. Now Drew just has to tell her that he loves her after telling his whole family. He doesn’t but any ribbons or bows on it, he just says it, says, “I love you. I just do.” AHGGGHALKDFJALSJDFOAWERAWOEDFALSJDLKFAJSDFJ NOW IS THE PART OF THE SHOW WHERE I FEEL THINGS

Ok. Composure regained, let us journey onward to McMinnville, Oregon for Chris’s hometown. I just love that Chris is from Oregon. He’s pretty freaking cute all excited to introduce his family.

Apparently Chris played professional baseball? I thought maybe it was just a college thing. And now I can’t remember for the life of me what it says as his occupation in his little bio thing that flashes across the screen. Huh. Anyways, they’re going to play a little baseball at the park where he first played little league. ADORABLE.

I mean, again, making me feel feelings. The date they have just playing baseball in a park is the best date on the season this far – no helicopters, no private concert, no hot tugs, just two people being cute, having fun.

Desiree brought some drawings of their relationship instead of poetry corner. The drawings are less diarrhea-inducing embarrassing, so it’s nice. She is actually pretty nervous to meet his family because she wants them to like her so much. Chris reassures her that she has nothing to worry about.

His house is very rustic, almost a log cabin, very Oregon and woodsy. Chris has a younger sister, an older sister and an older brother. Dad is very quiet and weird; he’s a chiropractor in Oregon, so you can imagine. Dad decides to realign Desiree’s spine, and she’s very uncomfortable with all the shop-talk and not talking about Chris. Also all the touching. Lots of touching.

So now Chris has come downstairs to his father’s office to talk about Des while getting his head realigned via his nostrils. There’s some balloon-like, phallic shaped thing his dad is sticking up his nose while they both calmly discuss how much Chris is in love with Desiree. AMAZING STUFF. This bizarre turn makes me like Chris way more that his family is nuts.

His mother is so soft spoken and just lovely. She’s very protective and worried about her son’s happiness. Apparently none of Chris’ family liked his last girlfriend, and now he’s worried about them liking Des. The producers are playing creepy spiritual “new-age” music over the conversation with Des and his mom.

Chris was nervous about how long his mom and her talked, but no worries guys, she gives him her blessing. They both like how independent, strong, and confident she is. Mom tears up giving a toast. I love this family, and I really love their house. I can’t stop imagining it in the fall. I would like to be part of that family, Des should too.

The final stop on our tour is Salt Lake City, Utah for the hometown date with surprise Mormon Brooks! Desiree is head over heels for Brooks and very open about it. Brooks, however, is less sure and is trying to figure it out here with his family. He tells her though that he’s having a hard time with the “process” of not seeing her for long periods of time and her dating other guys.

She has a whole list of things that she loves about their relationship thus far. It’s sappy but sweet and he adds some moments of his own. It was good for him to hear those things and for him to hear that she feels so strongly about him. As the date goes on, he becomes more and more comfortable and happier and happier with her. They go canoeing in a lake and it’s very romantic until he tries to kiss her and tips the canoe a little bit. “We took on water!” Brooks yells to the producers in the other canoe. Oh, Brooks, so droll.

Brooks has a huge Mormon family that jumps up and gives her a group hug when Desiree walks in. There are so many of them that they made nametags for siblings and significant others. Des knows how important it is to reassure Brooks here with his family so he can feel comfortable letting his feelings bloom.

A couple key family members pull Brooks aside as Des talks with his mom about their love and feelings. His gorgeous sister gives some very sound advice. This whole family is just beautiful. Like, the cardigan he’s wearing is this gorgeous knit, textured shawl collared thing, and I’m obsessed with it. He’s putting a lot of stake in the approval of his mom. But don’t worry, Mom approves in a diplomatic sort of way.

“Tonight was a big night. I feel closer to seeing Desiree and I in the union of marriage than ever before,” beams Brooks. I’m worried though because Brooks is the only guy who hasn’t said “I love you” to Desiree yet, and he’s the only guy that she has said that she’s in love with. Oh, it is much ado!

The only thing left in this episode is to deal with Desiree’s nightmare of an ex-con brother Nate. Desiree is using this meeting as an opportunity to gauge how her brother might react if she allows him to meet the final two guys. We find out right away that they haven’t seen each other since her hometown date, and that she didn’t speak to him for a few months after. She glares at him and he just laughs. It is a tense sibling relationship.

He’s so combative about everything Desiree says to him. She tells Nate about each guy and why she likes him. He patiently listens and tells her he’d love to meet them. She basically says “no way” to him meeting these guys. If the previews have anything to say about it, this won’t be the last we see of him tonight.

Rather than a fireside chat at the mansion, we sit down with Chrarrison at the Beverly Hilton to discuss love and the families. Desiree talks about how she can feel the love from Brooks even though he hasn’t said the words to her. She talks about how Chris had a bit of a rough hometown date. She talks about how hard it’s going to be to say good-bye to someone because she knows that no one sees a good-bye coming.

As she voices over her decision making process, we see each man enter the hotel in his snazzy best. And just as Des says that there’s nothing standing in her way to finding happiness with one man for the rest of her life, we see little Nate peeking out from behind a corner. That it though. Nothing else. What a let down.

The rose ceremony is on the rooftop of the hotel in a lovely setting with the traditional Bachelorette blue and purple lighting. Desiree cries as she tells the guys how hard it will be to say good-bye after meeting everyone’s lovely family.

Surprise, surprise Brooks is the first name called. Then it’s my dawg Chris. Leaving Drew and Zak. I think we can all make an educated guess as to whose name she’ll call. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd it’s Drew. Duh.

I still feel bad for Zak though. It’s always hard to leave right after introducing someone to your family. His crazy eyes are at their craziest. Desiree cries as she wishes him the very best in the world, and he is the quietest he’s ever been. She gives back that heinous promise ring. Oh this is grim. You’re ok, boo boo. Everyone’s got love coming their way; yours just isn’t Desiree. He goes so far as to throw the ring out of the limo.

That’s all she wrote, folks. Next week is the Men Tell All special where there would normally just be the final three dates. There was a good share of drama this season, so I’m looking forward to it. I have to wonder though, with the previews they’ve shown us, is there an underlying reason to bumping up the date of the Men Tell All? Could something be awry? Time will tell. Until next Wednesday, catch up with me @chasspod. See you then, journeyers.

Well, the world has done it again. Without my asking or searching, it has delivered a magnificently joyous piece of Sesame Street-ery right into my lap. It's the Roots + Jimmy Fallon + Your favorite Sesame Street Monsters and Giant Birds + pure delight.

Please note - Quest Love picking his red monster friends fur right at the beginning.

PS - I really swear this won't become a Sesame Street/Muppets exclusive blog but they have just been on top of their PR game of late!