Mad Hatter for Senate

Have you ever looked at your state representative and thought to yourself…do you know who you look like? Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid! Okay, me either, but apparently someone has, because The Huffington Post recently published a very entertaining slideshow of “Politicians Who Look Like Disney Characters.”

Whether or not you’ve seen these movies or have strong feelings about these politicians one way or the other, it’s downright entertaining to see that someone was able to find a photo that proves Barney Frank looks like Mr. Smee from Peter Pan.

See for yourself:

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) & Mr. Smee (Peter Pan)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) & The Mad Hatter (Alice In Wonderland)

Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) & Ursula (The Little Mermaid)

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) & Mister Geppetto (Pinocchio)

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) & Andy’s Mom (Toy Story)

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) & The Caterpillar (Alice In Wonderland)

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) & Eric (The Little Mermaid)

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) & The Fairy Godmother (Cinderella)

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) & Claude Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) & Gadget Hackwrench (Chip ‘n’ Dale)

Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) & Chef Auguste Gusteau (Ratatouille)

Haven’t had enough? Visit here for more!

Posted by Emily

Image source The Huffington Post

Why I WON’T Be Seeing Brad Pitt’s “World War Z”

In a world where movie studios battled for the rights to adapt the book World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War – ONE MAN has stood triumphant.

Brad Pitt and his production company will release the colossal film adaptation of Max Brooks’ gripping zombie apocalypse novel this coming Friday, June 21. As an ardent fan of the book, I promise you this: I will NOT see the movie.

And here’s why:

1.  The story strays too far from the book

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is an elegant, complex collection of first-person accounts 10 years after a global zombie outbreak. Each chapter is a different survivor’s tale, each unraveling the timeline. This structure spanning years, continents and cultures is what makes the novel so spectacular – and also intrinsically difficult to adapt to film.

In the movie, Brad Pitt’s character is (naturally) the connecting thread. As United Nations employee Gerry Lane, he races around the world trying to stop the zombie pandemic that threatens to destroy his family and all of humanity. The movie will try to integrate the characters he meets along the way, but the focus is still on Pitt. The book gave equal balance to each chapter’s narrator and it will be a shame to lose that depth of perspective.

2.  Production has been plagued with difficulties

Since securing the rights in 2006, Brad Pitt’s Plan B has laboriously struggled to bring the World War Z adaptation to life. Today, the film’s ballooning production has itself become an industry horror story.

Problems with script and budget delayed the intended Christmas 2012 release (it’s rumored the film began shooting without an ending). Director Marc Forster and initial screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski couldn’t see eye-to-eye. Matthew Carnahan also turned in a draft and finally Damon Lindelof was brought in to finalize the script with Drew Goddard, before writer/director Christopher McQuarrie stayed on set to tinker. Reviews thus far are understandably mixed.

Finally, there’s the budget, which due to reshoots and epic location scenes clocked in close to a behemoth $300 million.

3. Fast zombies

C’mon, guys!  From Night of the Living Dead to Thriller, zombies have always been slow. That’s because they are decaying bodies with no brains. But from the looks of the World War Z trailer, zombies can collectively scale towering fortress walls and jump onto helicopters, thus betraying the rules of zombie lore. This same argument is occasionally directed at The Walking Dead when zombies can suddenly outrun able-bodies humans. The only acceptable caveat is a viral outbreak, a la 28 Days Later.

Image source ScreenRant.com

So even if the lure of Brad Pitt and zombie action has made you curious enough to see the film, please make World War Z part of your summer reading list. On that, you won’t be sorry.

Posted by Michelle

Image source FirstShowing.net & Wikipedia

PJ Chic: Summer 2013′s Coziest New It-Look

There’s nothing like a good pair of jammies. I, for one, am a big bathrobe fan, but regardless of your flannel fancy, there’s nothing like tossing off your heels and donning fuzzy, soft pastel garb at the end of a long day. So to me, it’s no wonder that jammie-chic is now totally trending from runways to red carpets.

Haven’t seen the nighty craze in action? Let me fill you in…

 
Image source WWD & Daily Mail

High Fashion: Fashion mastermind Marc Jacobs debuted a PJ line for his Resort 2014 collection (think more silk and buttons than drawstrings and flannel). Marcy Marc also sprinkled some Jammie-inspiration into Louis Vuitton’s Fall Winter 2013-2014 show (gimme dat navy robe) in a sleepy faux hotel setting.

      
Image source FabSugar & The Huffington Post

Red Carpet: On June 4, I Love You, Man bombshell Rashida Jones sported a very pajama-esque floral pants suit to Glamour‘s Women of the Year awards. Side note: not saying I’d wear this for my red carpet premiere but I think she looked pretty darn cute and put together here. My personal on-camera friend crush Jessa from Girls (aka Jemima Kirke) sported another nighty-like ensemble at an NYC charity gala last month (again, pretty bohemian chic if you ask me…).

Marlo, does this mean PJs are officially office-appropriate? Kidding, but if I could get my hands on that LV robe I can’t guarantee it wouldn’t show up at mm/c during late nights behind my desk.

Posted by Mary

The 590.5 (well, 370…ok…278) Million Dollar Question

Image source The Guardian

The question of who won the Mega Millions pot on May 18^th has been answered: 84 year old widow and Florida resident Gloria C. MacKenzie. Now the question on everyone’s mind is what is she going to do with it? Over the last few decades there have been many lottery winners that have avoided the Lottery Curse, choosing to continue their lives just as they were…with the modest addition of a new home, car, or pair of shoes.

We’ve all fantasized about what we would do with lottery winnings of this magnitude. But upon closer consideration, winning the lottery could become more of a curse then a blessing – Would you tell all of your friends? Your family? Would you slink away to some remote island and live a life of luxurious seclusion or would you be transformed into one of the ridiculed rich kids of Instagram?

When I was younger my father used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up and when I couldn’t answer, he asked instead what I would do if I won the lottery. He called it “The genie of livelihood question”:  if you had unlimited resources and didn’t have to do anything to make a living, what would you do, everyday? The point being, figure out a way to do what you would do with the money, without the money. You’d want to travel the world? Be a travel journalist, blogger or critic. You would throw lavish parties? Be an event or wedding planner. Would you get the urge to analyze management needs, edit, consider and theorize future trends and predict their consequences, edit more, research public opinion, attitudes and expectations and advise on necessary action? Then my friend, you just might have a future in PR!

So my million dollar question to you: what would you do with a cool 287 million?

Posted by Jenna

These Linguistic Maps Will Make You Shake Your Head

[WARNING: This post may cause you to get into a fight with your Southern cube mate]

Remember when you first went to college, or maybe even earlier if you went to a sleep-away camp with people from all corners of the country, and you started calling out or being called out for saying weird things? Like, wait, “wicked” isn’t something people say everywhere? What kind of crap is this?

While a lot of our pronunciation and word choice comes from things like race, economic background, etc., we all know a lot of it also comes from location. Now, thanks to Joshua Katz, a Ph. D student in statistics at North Carolina State University, we know exactly what parts of the US to avoid because they talk funny.

NOTE: The darker the spot on the map, the bigger the percentage choosing that answer, the lighter the area, the more split the verdict is.

The “Most Surprising” Award: Wait, seriously? How do you not see the difference? Thanks, Jersey. You are good people.

Innovation Award: There are drive-through liquor stores?! That’s a horrible/genius idea!

The “I Hate To Admit It” Award: Ok. New York City is “The City.” I would never actually call it that, but if someone did I would begrudgingly acknowledge them.

The “You Use them For More Than Tennis” Award: YOU USE THEM FOR MORE THAN TENNIS!!!!

The “Come On Philly, Just Admit It” award:

The “Seriously Pennsylvania, Making Up Words” Award:

The “Stubborn” Award: Boston clearly wins this one. Everyone else disagrees with us, but pretty mildly, whereas Massachusetts says “Hell no, call it a roundabout and I’ll hit you.”

PS –What happens when people from the Dakotas and Montana get to one of those things-that-goes-in-a-circle-then-you-drive-off-when-you-get-to-your-street-things? Do they just freak out? “WHAT IS THIS THING?!?! AHHHHHH” KKKKKKRAAAASHHHHHHHHHH!

I guess all they have is four way stops? Or maybe it’s just one road that goes through and nobody stops….

The “East Boston and Jersey” Award: What, no “Youz guyz?”

The entire list can be found here for your perusal. But beware, once you open Katz’s box, it’s out there in the open and debate will ensue. And you will wonder how anybody could actually call a “water fountain” a bubbler…

Posted by Ben

Image source Joshua Katz