LMU's Next Top Ridiculously Good-Looking Person

LMU's Next Top Ridiculously Good-Looking Person, was a project I came up with early 2007.  I had been watching too much America's Next Top Model (and probably Zoolander) and I thought, "Wow, there is nothing they won't do for a photo-shoot theme."  It made me think of things they've never done, outrageous theme ideas like clowns, cross-dressing, bums, and more.  Most of which the show itself would actually do.  (And maybe by now, have.)  This was also the time period when YouTube was getting big and although I was avoiding vlogs at time (heh, look at me now…) I had been watching a few really interesting web dramas.  I just really really wanted to make my own webshow.  When my friend Nicole heard my idea, to create a false reality show about over the top model wannabes with lots of issues and drama (a farce) she loved it.

 We began writing the scripts that summer together and by the start of my Senior year (her Sophomore year) we were holding auditions.  We made the show mainly for our campus television station, The Roar Network.  Doing that allowed us to rent equipment for free and actually get some funding for the project. 

I had always dreamed of an internet release, but was unaware of exactly to go about that.  I uploaded the episodes YouTube before I really understood the website fully so it did not do as well as I wanted it to.  No one was watching outside from the cast and friends.

Even though it's years later (and most of the cast probably has not thought about the show since then)  I have decided to release it on my YouTube channel.   I'm very proud of the project and hopefully it will generate some fans that did not go to my alma mater.  

In it's initial internet release I had been editing together 'webisodes' which have deleted scenes from the episodes.  Those are also being re-released my secondary YouTube channel.  

The following videos are the first two promos for the show and below that are links to all the current episodes and their deleted scenes.  I might have a contest soon now that the first 5 episodes are live.  Also, of you enjoy the show, please subscribe to my channels here and here so you can be sure to catch the last five episodes!

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Episode 1 - Sex Symbol
    Webisode 1 - Extra Confessionals
Episode 2 - Sweet Transvestite
    Webisode 2 - Dressing Room
Episode 3 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
    Webisode 3 - Getting Along
Episode 4 - Buy Me
    Webisode 4 - Brady and Cloe
Episode 5 - Lights, Camera, Action!
    Webisode 5 - Don't Provoke the Whip

Questions for the comments:
Who is your favorite character?
Who do you think will win?

Thank you so much for watching!

J.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Book Review

After hearing that Stephen Chbozky's book, 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' was being turned into a movie I went out and bought the book.  I did this for two reasons.  One: with books that get turned into movies the book tends (not always) to be much better.  I like to read it first.  Two: if a book is getting turned into a film, it's probably a pretty good book.  'Perks' did not disappoint.  It was a great young adult novel that had I read it as a teenager, I could see how it could affect me in that deep emotional way.

I have yet to see the film but I imagine it will be close in feelings and storytelling.  The characters are what you come back to this book for and I can see the film achieving that as well.  It did not quite have the whimsy I tend to be drawn to but it is different, realistic, and raw.

I was a film major, not an English major, so I apologize for my lack of intelligent insight in this review.  I just want to tell you how it made me feel.  I felt...nostalgic for my teen years.  I wish I had read it back then.  (I feel the same way about John Green books.)

Final notes: I liked it, it was a quick good read, and I can't wait to see the film.

Books read this year: 10

J.

Product image from Goodreads.

Tuber Tuesday

That's right, I'm starting a new not-so-weekly themed post! (aka, every so often) It's called 'Tuber Tusday' because I am a YouTuber.  I'm in the YouTube community, I like making videos, watching videos, and the general subculture that YouTube really is.  To outsiders it may appear as a self indulgent annoying website full of mostly cat videos and 'viral videos' but that's simply not true.  I've made more online friends in the short time I've spent in this community than in any other.

So every Tuesday I'll introduce you to a past video on my channel, talk a bit about the culture, and occasionally feature a great video or YouTuber.  Today, I've posted two videos for you to consume.  The first is the introduction video I posted to my channel shortly after switching accounts. (It's almost MagicCatJenny's YouTubeaversery!) and the second is a video I posted in this Film post. (but now that YouTube is allowing everyone to upload custom thumbnails, I wanted to show off the super pretty thumbnail I chose for this one.)

J.

Channel Intro

Video Reel/Short Film

Music: The Long Holidays

For those of you who don't know me, you have yet to learn about my favorite band.  I admit I'm a bit biased in the matter, as my boyfriend Jim is the lead singer and main songwriter of that band.  Also, I am friends with all five current members and I've had the opportunity to watch the band grow and change throughout the years.  However, I believe I am unbiased when I say that The Long Holidays have never sounded better and they are really good at what they do.

From left: Andy, John, James, Keven, Sean

The line up is: James Holmquist (vocals, guitar, 8-string ukulele) who is also a scientist when he's not making music, Andy Worshill (bass, trombone, vocals), Kevin Engelking (piano, vocals), Sean Garnreiter (trumpet), and John Higgins (drums).  They play a music that is a unique blend of americana, indie rock, folk, and surf.  'Adventure Rock' at it's finest. 

This past weekend they had a gig in San Diego at a cool bar called Tin Can Alehouse.  They were the headliners and they closed out the night with a loud powerful dance-worthy sound. Believe me, there was lots of dancing!  (I wish I had a good photo of the whole band performing, but the stage was so small!)

If you want some good music to add to your playlists, I highly recommend their 6 song EP, "Through Two Lenses" You can download it for free off their bandcamp.  There's something for any adventurer with songs about: chaparrals and coyotes, sea shanties, buried rock tapes and a music legend, a high-altitude parachute jump, spies in love, and a guy trying to escape his regrets with booze and travel.

If you do download their album, let me know what your favorite song off it was! I'm really curious what people who don't know them personally think.

If you want to read more about The Long Holidays I recently wrote a guest post about them at The Owls Den here.

Find The Long Holidays here: 

http://www.thelongholidays.com 

http://thelongholidays.bandcamp.com

http://www.facebook.com/TheLongHolidays

http://www.twitter.com/TheLongHolidays

Film: Harry Potter Inspired Drinks

As you learned from Monday's post, I'm a bit of a Harry Potter nut.  I adore the books and though the films are not perfect, they are fun.  Recently my friend John decided to read all of the books for the first time now that he can get them digitally.  So every time he finishes a book, he come's over to our apartment and John, Jim, and myself watch the corresponding movie and we take turnes bringing the beer. ;) This past Sunday, John he finished the very last book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and we had a mini Harry Potter party!

Our friend Whitney and Vince came over as well and the five of us marathon-ed the last two films (Deathly Hallows Part 1&2) and made Harry Potter themed drinks! Disclaimer - Please drink responsibility! Also, please do not try these drinks if you are under the drinking age where you live. We are all well over 21 and did not over do it.

The first we chose drink is Pumpkin Ale.  It's a great beer that has hints of Pumpkin and perfect for the fall season (that we have yet to feel yet here in way-too-hot California) The characters in Harry Potter never  are said to drink a pumpkin ale, specifically, but they do partake in pumpkin pastries.  Also, pumpkins make you think of Halloween which makes you think of witches, so it just felt right.

Second is my own version of Butter Beer.  You can purchase 'Butterscotch Beer' a non-acholocic version of the drink from Whismic Alley (my go-to spot for Harry Potter merch and other fantasy related products).  I decided to make my own by simply mixing Butterscotch Schnapps and Cream Soda.  (Whitney added some Vodka to hers for an extra kick, I left mine tame.) Warning, it's a very surgery drink, too sweet for some.

The third drink we had was Fireball Whisky.  In the Harry Potter books they have Fire Whisky, and I'm assuming it's very similar to the cinnamon taste of Fireball.

Me with my super week, super surgery butterbeer in a super appropriate goblet.

Whitney enjoying her more adult mixed butterbeer.  Yes, we are both Gryffindors.  Lion pride! (heh, get it?)

A blurry pic of us about to try the Fireball Whiskey.

 And the aftermath. Not our favorite.

Here's our final opinions:
Pumpkin Ale:  good beer, not pumpkin-y enough.
Butterbeer: good but a bit too sweet, vodka is optional
Fire Whiskey: tastes like fire

Perhaps for our next party we'll try the non-acholeic versions and maybe even some Harry Potter themed food.  Any recipes for us to try? Overall the party was a success, even if the drinks were not.

J.

Sponsor in October!

I am now accepting buttons/ads for October!
Head on over to my Sponsor page to find out how.
Also, there are some added goodies for sponsoring this month, check them out!

Just a Little Bit about Me

I've been updating this blog for a bit now and I realized you don't know too much about me yet.  So here's a little post with the cliff notes to me.  Well, my name is Jennifer, but my friends call me Jenny.  I am a creative lady with her head in the clouds and far too many ideas.  I always have ideas for projects and get an obsessive drive when completing one.  Fantasy and sci-fi are my genres of choice when it comes to books and films. I'm a proud nerd, musical theater fan, older sister, optimistic realistic, living with the love of my life, crazy weird girl.

Here's a screen cap from of my favorite videos I've made for YouTube.  You can watch it here. I've always been interested in making my own short films and regardless if it becomes my career or not, I will never stop creating them.

I currently work at a production company that makes videos for YouTube, I upload them and make sure they get watched.  It's fun to be able to work with a website that I love and doing a job that did not exist when I was going to college.

I have a wonderful boyfriend/partner in crime/best friend named Jim who surprises me every day which how much I love him.  He's the best scientist/musician I've ever met and he is always there for me when I need him to be.  We've had an interesting and awesome ride so far and the future is looking like it's going to be an exciting adventure.

Family is very important to me and there is no one closer than my sister.  It's true that we have not spent that much time together since we both grew up but we still love each other the same.  She currently works at Disneyland so I get to get in free sometimes and see her in action, which is always a treat.  In fact, last year she was working at Paris Disneyland and I made sure to visit her over there as well.

France was one of four countries I visited last October (2011), I also went to Sweden, Denmark, and The Netherlands.  I traveled with my boyfriend's brother, Eric, since Jim was studying in Holland at the time.  We stayed with him there right before heading to Paris to see my sister.  I'll probably post about that amazing trip at some point.  (It's been almost a year and I'm still working on getting all the photos sorted through!)

I also spend a lot of time with Jim's sisters, Julianne and Allie.  They are teenagers and we have a lot of fun together...especially when we are making fun of Jim.

I hope this post gave you a bit more insight into who I am and maybe you'll stick around and read what else I have to say.  Thanks for reading and leaving comments, it means so much!
To finish, here are 11 random facts about myself:

• I have a degree in Film and TV Production with a minor in Theater
• I am a YouTuber.
• That being said, I am an introvert.
• I really want to own a cat.
• I am terribly allergic to cats.
• I am an avid crafter and love sewing.
• I've been to Sweden 4 times.
• Some of my best friends were made through the internet.
• I was born in the 80s.
• I often cosplay at conventions for fun.
• Me and the internet, we're kinda close.

Because you made it the whole way through, here is me dressed as Ariel (in a costume I made myself!)

J.

Music: Why I Like Wizard Rock

Recently I attended a 'wrock' show held in the auditorium of a library.  Now, I've always had mixed feeling about wizard rock from the beginning.  I was introduced to 'Harry and the Potters' via CD by my friend Franz.  I thought they were funny and entertaining but that was pretty much it, I never looked further into it.  I should probably explain that I was 11 when the first Harry Potter book came out, and although I loved it, I was not a die-hard fan.

I've gotten into the fandom a bit more in recent years thanks to finding some pretty interesting wizard rock bands through YouTube.  Now, music for me is first and for-most about the music.  Humorous music has it's place (I love Flight of the Concords!)  Although you'd think a wrock band would be for the laughs, some of the wrock bands I found tended to blur that line and some even completely creating serious Harry Potter music.  I'm not one to judge what someone wants to write music about, but that also means I won't love any band that makes fan-rock (pander-rock) simply because omgirememberthatpartofthebook!  That being said, I do enjoy the nerdy-ness of it all, and when done right, wrock can be some good music on it's own.

Despite my mixed feelings on the genera, it's all for the love a book series and even if I'm not completely apart of the fandom like the die-hards are, I can still enjoy the music every so often.  I mean come on, I get to put on a tie with my house colors and attend a show where I get to act like I'm a kid again (I'm the age of the musicians, not the age of the majority of wrock fans), and get to sing along to songs about Hogwarts.  In total, I've attended three (mostly) wizard rock shows.  Not much, but they sure were experiences.

Wizard Rockers Pictured:
Matt Maggiacomo (The Whomping Willows)
Lauren Fairweather (The Moaning Myrtles) 
Jason Munday (The Ministry of Magic)
Alex Carpenter (The Remus Lupins)

The ___est Girl in the World

One of the blogs I follow, Do Deer Blogazine, posted recently about a zine by Aurora Lady called The ___est Girl in the World that she was featured in.  I've always been interested in zines but never bought one or (what I really wanted to do) make one; so I was quite intrigued.  When I read that one of my all time favorite authors, Francesca Lia Block was involved, I was sold.  One her her books was the start of my 25 Books in 2012 challenge.  You can read that post here.

The zine came in this cute little handmade bag.  

Here's a quick look at all the contents.  So many colors!  You can see the red binding of the zine, handmade and gorgeous.

The cover art is so enticing that I already am ready to check out Aurora Lady's blog since I've never heard of her till now.

How exciting it was to find out my zine had been personalized!  Again, Aurora Lady is an artist being introduced to me because of this zine, but it's still really cool.

Although the selling point for me was Block, there are so many women featured in the zine that I had never heard of and got to explore their art and creations online since receiving the zine.  What a beautiful way discovering new things.

Here are all the lovely extras included in the bag.  Coupons, postcards, business cards, and Francesca Lia Block's autograph (!)  It sort of reminds me of the swag bags you get at Comic Con and VidCon.  Makes me feel like I got back from a craft/art/blog con.  (That should exist, does that exist??)

Anyways, thank you Do Deer for clueing me in on this project and these amazing people and thank you Aurora Lady for creating this project and thank you to all the other women involved.  I will be sure to check out all of your personal projects online!

J.

4 Simple Goals *before 2013!

One of my favorite blogs, A Beautiful Mess, has created this 'tag' for other blogs to do if they so please. (Forgive me, 'tag' is a YouTube term.) So seeing as I have far too many things I want to do all the time, a little guidance and support from other bloggers seems the right thing to do.
Here is their blog post about the project: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2012/09/4-simple-goals-before-2013.html
And now, without further ado, my 4:

1. Make my first Etsy sale. I realize that if I work hard this will not be the most difficult thing to achieve but I am still apprehensive about it.  As you saw last week I have made my first 'Nerdy Monster' and put him up for sale in my new Etsy store.  I now have 2 Nerdy Monsters for sale there but so far no one has bitten. When the first person does buy from me I will be so happy I can't even tell you.  Once I do complete this goal I will keep selling and keep creating and I will be sure to tell you all about it!
2. Exercise at least once a week. I admit, I don't exercise regularly.  I'm not athletic at all and I hate running.  I'm a computer nerd and a film guru, always stuck behind one screen or another.  My non-screen related hobbies are sewing listening to music...not moving my body a terrible amount.  I get out of the apartment and walk sometimes but honestly not as much as I want to.  I eat healthy but I don't think I'm in shape.  I've lost my endurance. So, I bought a yoga mat and at least once a week (if not more) I will do some sort of exercise.  Yoga, workout tapes, (there's workout routines on YouTube that are just a click away), anything I can do to get moving.
3. Add to my Jellicle Drawing Project.  I used to do a lot of art when I was a teenager.  I would draw at any available time.  When I started college, however, I stopped drawing as much and since graduating I have barely touched my drawing pad.  Back in high school and college I was really into the musical Cats and would draw the characters (and original characters I had created) my goal was to have a drawing done in colored pencils of each character.  I never completed the project and would like to add a few more characters to it before the end of the year.  Who knows if I'm any good anymore but it is a hobby I miss.
4. Organize and simplify. I admit it, I am in danger of becoming a hoarder. I just love stuff and I hate to through things away.  Most of what I 'hoard' are costumes, craft supplies, and papers.  So this goal is nonspecific but I really want to go through my craft stuff and really debate if I'll ever use it.  So to make this goal a bit more focused, lets say I have to get rid of at least one significant thing (a scrap of ribbon does not count), use one thing in a project I never got around to, and organize the rest.

I will be updating you all about this here on my blog and hopefully I will stick to the goal.  It's nice and motivating to do this alongside other bloggers even if they don't know me.

J.

Bento Box

I thought I dedicate today's post to lunch.  That mid-day meal that helps you through your busy work day.  I've always had trouble coming up with ways to make my lunch I take to work interesting and it's not always easy.  Where I work we have a overflowing fridge, two microwaves and a toaster.  Not bad but still easy to get into a sandwich-every-day rut. (And yes, I do enjoy eating out sometimes. It's great for social reasons but not so great on my wallet so I try and bring lunch far more often.)

One interesting idea I've tried recently are bento box lunches.  I bought myself a bento lunch box and started researching recipes and such.  I found a great website, JustBento, that answered pretty much all of my questions.

So here's a bento box I made.  The larger half contains two halves of a turkey sandwich and some cut up banana and kiwi.  The smaller half has some vegetable stir-fry and egg tamagoyaki (a bento box recipe found on JustBento)

What's interesting for bento lunches is that they are supposed to be made fresh in the morning and then cool down by lunch.  I did in fact make the stir-fry and egg that morning and it was cold but not unappetizing by the time I ate it.  If I am awake enough to do a little extra work in the morning then bento boxes are a great way to mix up my lunch some days of the week. The only real complaint I have is that bento boxes are so small I was ready for a second lunch before the work day was up.  I know that larger bento boxes exist (usually advertised for American men) but I really do love the cute little one I have.

Have you tried bento box lunches?  Any ideas, tricks, tips for me? I'd love to make this a trend on this blog...new food ideas! (I'm not the best cook...so maybe if I write about cooking I can get motivated to be more awesome at it.)

J.

Nerdy Monsters

For the past almost year I have been planning these little guys and they are finally being released!  Nerdy Monsters are tiny 4 inch creatures that are each nerdy about a particular fandom and are not afraid to show it.

The first ever Nerdy Monster is Specs.  Specs is a nerd, but he's proud of who he is.  He's too passionate to focus on any one fandom, he loves all things nerdy.

This Nerdy Monster pictured is the first I've ever sewn and is currently for sale at Etsy.  He is one of 5 monsters with a delicately handsewn loop on his head. (The new guys are more clean cut.)

Eventually I might host giveaways here where you can win some actual Nerdy Monsters! I hope to eventually have a nerdy monster for any fandom you can think of.  Just be sure to let me know in the comments below what you'd like to see next.
(The upcoming monsters are really nerdy about: YouTube, Harry Potter, & Doctor Who)

I'm guessing I will be posting about Nerdy Monsters quite a bit on this blog, but if you want to know all the info before the crowd let me know and I'll add your email to our mailing list.

Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/NerdyMonsters

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NerdyMonsters

Tumblr: http://nerdymonsters.tumblr.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NerdyMonsters