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Saturday, January 2, 2010

Fashion Pins

Beautiful Shawl Pins - Brooch Pins
By Meryl Rougeaux

Fashion Pin
I love to add that little bit of extra style to my shawls when I wear them with formal attire. Of course, while many people might opt for jewelry, I just open my jewelry box which is filled with an assortment of shawl - brooch pins.

While shawls are known to be fashion accessories, brooches go one step further and give fashion an extra look of grace and elegance. While some may think that shawl pins are nothing but little gadgets to hold your scarf or shawl in place, I feel they are much more than that.

These items are extremely versatile and I realized this very early on in life. When I wear them, I end up looking polished and attracting attention to one focal point of my outfit. I do not use my these just for keeping my capes and stoles in place. I use them as brooches, as accent pieces on my hat (when I wear one), or as a way of keeping my cloth belt in place.

Brooch PinSpoiling my outfits or my beloved shawls was my biggest fear of using shawl pins earlier. However, with experience I have come to realize that shawl pins should primarily be used with knitted, crocheted and woolen shawls or scarves. I simply do not use them with my expensive cashmere, silk or Pashmina shawls or scarves. Even then I take care to unpin the shawl pins carefully so that no thread or fabric gets snagged. However, there can be occasions when yarn or fabric gets caught in your pin, all you have to do is gently and slowly remove the pin without pulling or tugging.

I usually only use a lightweight brooch and take a layer of my clothes along with the stole when pinning. This ensures that it sits firmly plus my cape stays in place. I love that little extra touch these fashion jewels are able to give to my clothes and I would recommend them to anyone who is interested in further accessorizing their scarves, shawls, hats or bags. The results are amazing!

Happy New Year


This picture makes me happy as two of my favorite things, Keira Knightley and Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go, join forces in making sure I'll have at least one amazing filmgoing experience in 2010.  I'll be interested to see how this adaptation turns out, but I remember reading the novel a few years ago and thinking that Keira would be perfect as the opinionated Ruth.  Anyway...I'll have more to post on Monday, but you know, I can never get enough of Keira Knightley...so there ya go.  Happy New Year, everyone!

Reel Thoughts: The 2010 Neelys!

These are the first Neelys Awards of the new decade, named after Patty Duke's boozy, doped-up character in Valley of the Dolls. They’re bestowed with love, even for the Worst 10, because I love seeing bad movies as much as good movies; in both cases, they move me ... even if it is just a run for the exit.

Here are the best 2009 had to offer:

1. Up in the Air: Jason Reitman (Juno and Thank You for Smoking) keeps getting better and better as a director, and his new film is the perfect tale for our time of economic disaster. George Clooney hasn’t been this effortlessly charming in a long time, and his banter with Vera Farmiga elevated a bad movie year immensely. Anna Kendrick could have been clichéd but instead became someone you cared about as Clooney’s know-it-all colleague.


2. Inglourious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino’s fantastic, Nazi killin’, bloody fun exploitation flick has scenes of suspense that Hitchcock would envy. Brad Pitt is a hoot, Christoph Waltz is scary good, and both Diane Kruger and Mélanie Laurent are strong, powerful women in Tarantino’s deft bit of historical wish fulfillment. It’s like a feel-good Valkyrie, and I loved every grossly hilarious minute.

3. A Single Man: Is it style over substance that makes Tom Ford’s film feel less involving than other top picks? Perhaps, although Colin Firth is heartbreaking in the lead role of George Falconer, a closeted gay man in 1962 Los Angeles who is so bereft at the death of his partner, he spends one long day planning to kill himself. Ford’s vision is exquisite, and A Single Man is a timeless classic of love lost, and society’s callous indifference.


4. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire: At one time, Precious was my top film of the year, but on second thought, others rose higher. The outspoken Lee Daniels’ brutally real depiction of a young girl’s struggle to escape poverty and abuse makes for a gripping, unforgettable film. Gabourey Sidibe is amazing in the title role, while Mo’Nique is shocking in her fiercely hateful performance as Precious’ mother from hell.

5. Julie & Julia: Meryl Streep is the incandescent embodiment of Julia Child, while Amy Adams is less lucky with her half of Nora Ephron’s comic drama. When a film makes you cheer a well-cooked meal, you know it’s something special, and Julie & Julia is never more special than when Streep is on screen.


6. A Serious Man: The Coen Brothers have a merciless way of treating their characters, and Michael Stuhlbarg’s hapless Larry Gopnik fares no better. Was his family cursed by the Dybbuk (Jewish evil spirit) that entered the otherwise unconnected opening scene? I’m not sure, but I am sure that the Coens captured their late 60s Jewish and collegiate worlds perfectly, in a story that rivals the Book of Job.

7. District 9: After seeing the gritty realism that infuses Neill Blomkamp’s hard-hitting sci-fi take on Apartheid, Avatar looks like a video game. I hate seafood, but I was cheering on the alien prawns to victory, hoping against hope that the ET’s would do more than just phone home.


8. Sherlock Holmes: Sure, the film is popcorn entertainment, but Guy Ritchie makes a thrilling leap into period action, while Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law take honors as the couple of the year, even if their love dare not speak its name.

9. The Messenger: This story of two men charged with notifying the next of kin when servicemen are killed really resonates. Every person killed in action leaves a huge hole in their family’s lives, as The Messenger reminds us. Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson give milestone performances.


10. The Year in Animation: It’s kind of a cheat, but the tenth best films were the fine animated films Up, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Coraline. Up was Pixar’s most mature film yet, with profound messages about love and loss. Fantastic Mr. Fox finally made me like Wes Anderson, with visually gorgeous stop-animation and a wicked Roald Dahl story. Coraline was also a visual treat, with a creepy tale about getting what you wish for ... and regretting it.

Now the time has come to reward the horrid and reveal the vile. The Neelys 2010 are a little different this year, because I’ve decided to give each movie its own award of shame:

— The Sudoku Award for Most Aggravating Number-Obsessed Movie: Nicolas Cage’s Knowing, which somehow never knew how annoying and illogical it was.


— The Can We Revoke His Visa Award for Bad Citizenship Award: Gerard Butler’s ridiculous revenge flick, Law Abiding Citizen, wherein he rights the unfair murder of his wife by killing countless other folks.

— The Not-So-Gleeful Award for Incompetent Choir Movies: The excruciating Mark Pease Experience. You know it’s really bad when Jason Schwartzman isn’t the worst part of the film. That would be Ben Stiller in floppy hair.

— The That’ll Kill Your Résumé Award for Worst Buzz Kill to its Stars’ Careers: Sandra Bullock had an amazing year (The Proposal and The Blind Side), until you realize that she produced the steaming pile of rom-com crap known as All About Steve. Ditto Bradley Cooper, whose hangover will commence once he spots this incompetent trash on cable. Stalker comedy is bad enough, but did they have to steal and ruin a perfectly good gay film title?


— The That Joke is Jurassic Award: Land of the Lost, Will Ferrell’s painfully awful reboot of the cheesy Saturday morning kids’ show. When the height of comedy is Ferrell’s love of A Chorus Line, you know the humor well’s run dry.

— The Roe vs. Wade Award for a Movie That Should Have Been Aborted: In The Unborn, Odette Yustman is tormented by the evil spirit of her dead fetal twin. The audience is tormented by bad dialogue and cheap scares, and Judaism is set back two thousand years by its lame-brained mysticism.

— The “I Know Anne Archer, and You, Beyoncé, Are No Anne Archer” Award: The ludicrous Fatal Attraction rip-off Obsessed contains a weird bit of reverse racism wherein the devil lady Ali Larter stops at nothing to ruin Beyoncé’s happy home, with none of that pesky psychological suspense to get in the way. Lame catfights ensue.


— The Angelina’s Nightmare Award for Worst Adoption Movie: Following Orphan, Vera Farmiga would be forgiven if she never wants to play a mother again. First, in Joshua, she has a little devil boy. Even worse, in Orphan she has … Peter Sarsgaard as a husband! The horror! And that’s before they adopt a nasty little Eastern European tot with a daddy fixation. There’s good schlock, and then there’s trash like Orphan. No wonder adoption advocates were up in arms over the film!

— The “Does 3-D Stand for Dim-Witted, Depressing and Dull?” Award: With The Final Destination, the most tired entry in the Final Destination series, even 3-D couldn’t bring it back to life. Filled with the worst actors, the laziest plotting and the least imaginative death scenarios, it’s almost as if the series cheated death, only to be killed off by this lame sequel.

— The Prop 8 Award for Worst Wedding Testimonial: The wretched chick flick Bride Wars pits Anne Hathaway against best friend Kate Hudson as battling bridezillas bound and determined to be married at the Plaza Hotel. If this is marriage, who wants it?


— The Isaiah Washington Award for Worst Use of the F-Word: The Hangover, an otherwise entertaining film, is ruined by homophobic “guy banter” like Bradley Cooper yelling “Paging Dr. F****t!” at Ed Helms and gross groomsman Zach Galifianakis freaking out when a tailor measures his inseam.

— Finally, the Neely for Worst Film of the Year is the Chemical Castration Award for Worst Cinematic Man-Whore: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past was Matthew McConaughey squandering his remaining sex appeal on a sour holiday fable about a jerk who uses women, then supposedly grows a heart and soul. Now that Taylor Lautner’s grown killer abs, we don’t even need to see Matthew shirtless, so he had better choose his next projects more wisely.

Lastly (and certainly least), it’s time for the coveted Elizabeth Berkley Awards for acting below and against the call of duty.


This year’s Worst Actor pains me to announce, because he’s just so damn hot ... until he opens his mouth. Channing Tatum’s deadly dull performance in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra actually acts as an anti-aphrodisiac, negating his obvious assets while it kills your brain cells watching it.

This year’s Worst Actress just keeps getting work (including what I hope will be her first good performance as Joan Jett in Runaways) despite a complete lack of apparent ability. Kristin Stewart in The Twilight Saga: New Moon gave new meaning to the word “underplaying”, as she barely seems awake throughout the film. No emotion is within her grasp and no line is dramatic enough to rouse her from her stupor. Stewart makes Chloë Sevigny look like Vanessa Redgrave in comparison.

It’s a new decade, so here’s hoping that 2010 brings a better class of films!

By Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Charlie Yeung Profile

Charlie Yeung
Charlie Yeung


Charlie Yeung
Charlie Yeung


Charlie Yeung
Charlie Yeung

Charlie Yeung
Charlie Yeung

Charlie Yeung
Charlie Yeung


Charlie Yeung Profile

Name: Yeung Choi Nei, Charlie
DOB: May 23, 1974
Height: 165cm
Profession: Actress and singer

(Also credited as Charlie Yeong, Charlie Young, Charlie Yang, Yeung Choy Nei, Yang Chainee, Yang Chainee, Yang Chai Ni, Yang Cai Nee)

Hobbies: Exercise, badminton and swimming

Anita Yuen Biography

Anita Yuen
Anita Yuen


Anita Yuen
Anita Yuen


Anita Yuen
Anita Yuen

Anita Yuen
Anita Yuen

Anita Yuen
Anita Yuen

Anita Yuen Biography

Anita Yuen is an award winning actress; she won the Hong Kong Film Awards twice as the best actress in the 90s.

Anita Yuen is married to fellow actor Julian Cheung. She gave birth to their first child in November 2006.

Anita Yuen started her entertainment career after winning the Miss Hong Kong pageant in 1990. She made her acting debut in 1992 in a TVB series, and starred in some other TV dramas and movies.

Anita Yuen made her breakthrough in 1994 with movie C’est la vie, mon chéri, which won her the best actress award in Hong Kong Film Awards.

Anita Yuen won her 2nd best actress award a year later with movie He’s a Woman, She’s a Man, starring alongside the deceased Leslie Cheung.

Anita Yuen starred in a couple dozens of movies since then, including a few hits, but couldn’t reach the peak that she once was. Anita Yuen also went back to TV acting in the past few years.

Anita Yuen announced her pregnancy in May 2006, and officially declared her marriage with Julian Cheung. The couple is believed to be married a few years ago without announcing it in public. Their son, Morton, was born in November 2006.

Anita Yuen Profile

Anita Yuen Profile
Anita Yuen Picture


Anita Yuen Profile

Name: Yuen Wing Yee, Anita
DOB: September 4, 1971
Place of birth: Hong Kong
Height: 170cm
Blood type: O
Family: Husband (Julian Cheung) and a daughter
Profession: Actress
Anita Yuen Profile
Anita Yuen Picture


Anita Yuen Profile
Anita Yuen Picture

Anita Yuen Profile
Anita Yuen Picture

Eugene Kim Biography

Eugene Kim Biography
Eugene Kim Picture


Eugene Kim Biography
Eugene Kim Picture


Eugene Kim Biography
Eugene Kim Picture


Eugene Kim was formerly a member of popular girls-group S.E.S.

Eugene Kim went solo after the band was disbanded in 2002, but her solo music career is just ok.

Eugene Kim is better known as an actress these days, thanks to the success of popular TV dramas like Save Your Last Dance for Me and Wonderful Life.

Eugene Kim was born in Seoul, but spent large part of her childhood and teen-age in Guam.

When she was still in Guam, Eugene was discovered by SM Entertainment from an audition tape, and was signed to form a girls-group, namely S.E.S.

S.E.S made their debut in 1997, and was hugely popular until they were disbanded in 2002. S.E.S managed to produce half a dozen of Korean albums and a few Japanese albums as well.

Eugene Kim went solo and released 2 albums in 2003 and 2004, but the sales were not satisfying.

Eugene Kim also made her TV drama debut in 2002 with Loving You. She has starred in 4 dramas so far; including the popular Save Your Last Dance for Me and Wonderful Life.

Eugene Kim is currently one of the co-hosts of KBS’s Happy Together: Friends.

Eugene Kim Profile

Eugene Kim Profile
Eugene Kim


Eugene Kim Profile

Name: Kim Yoo-jin, Eugene
DOB: March 3, 1981
Place of birth: Seoul, Korea
Height: 160cm
Religion: Christian
Languages spoken: Korean, English and Chamorro (Guam’s native language)
Education: Korea Kent Foreign School
Profession: Actress and singer

Eugene Kim Profile
Eugene Kim


Eugene Kim Profile
Eugene Kim

Eugene Kim Profile
Eugene Kim

Cyndi Wang Biography

Cyndi Wang Biography
Cyndi Wang

Cyndi Wang Biography


Cyndi Wang Biography
Cyndi Wang

Cyndi Wang Biography
Cyndi Wang



Cyndi Wang is one of the most popular artists in Taiwan and Asia. Started her career as a singer, Cyndi is now a recognized actress as well.

Cyndi Wang was signed by Avex and trained for 3 months in Japan before recording her debut album, Cyndi: Begin in 2003. Her debut album did pretty well, but was criticized for imitating on popular singer Jolin Tsai.

Those critics didn’t hurt though, as Cyndi released her 2nd album, Cyndi Loves You, in 2004, which also achieved good results. Cyndi also starred in popular TV drama La robe de Mariee des cieux in 2004. The combination of success made Cyndi the hottest rising star in Taiwan.

Cyndi Wang released her 3rd album, Honey, in 2005. Cyndi was already one of the most popular stars in Taiwan by then, and gaining reputation across China and other Asia region as well.

2006 was another good year for Cyndi, thanks to TV drama Sonria Pasta (or Smiling Pasta), co-starring Nicholas Teo. Sonria Pasta was one of the top rated dramas in Taiwan for 2006, and was popular in other Asian countries as well.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Cyndi Wang Profile

Cyndi Wang
Cyndi Wang


Cyndi Wang Profile
Cyndi Wang
Cyndi Wang

Name: Wang Xin Ling, Cyndi
Birth name: Wang Jun Ru
DOB: September 5, 1982
Place of birth: Hsinchu, Taiwan
Height: 158cm
Blood type: O
Religion: Buddhism
Language spoken: Mandarin and Hakka
Profession: Actress and singer
Cyndi Wang
Cyndi Wang

Favourite actors: Mel Gibson, Sean Penn
Favourite actresses: Maggie Cheung
Favourite singers: Faye Wong, Suzanne Vega

Trip to Indiana

I didn't get as much sketching in on this trip as I had initially planned but I was far too happily preoccupied spending as much quality time with my boyfriend as humanly possible. Which actually turned out even more than expected when our trip was primarily spent with him sick and me helping him not die while playing video games and asking every ten seconds "do you need anything."
So anyway these are some quick sketches I did while in airports or on planes. While we were waiting for take off I drew a quick view looking out the window. Intrigued by how the portals framed the landscape I tried to knock out some really fast thumbs while we were moving which proved more difficult than I previously realized, but here are the attempts. Enjoy! :]



























Trying to get this out and about sketching people under control. I need more practice, I'm so used to a model. I guess the animals at the Zoo are moving targets as well, I love me a challenge! :]

Reel Thoughts Interview: August: Osage County's Jolly Perv

Don’t kid Laurence Lau about the mustache he wears in the current national tour of the Tony Award-winning August: Osage County. Although he’s in his fifties, Lau is eternally young looking, and it was agreed that the mustache would both add to his character’s persona and age him at the same time. “It sort of fits Steve Heidebrecht to have a mustache,” Lau explained recently. “Kind of looks like a guy stuck in the 70’s.” Unfortunately, Lau laughed, he had to keep it when he recently filmed his scenes for All My Children’s fortieth anniversary show. The “’stache”, as he calls it, is not exactly what upstanding Greg Nelson, the character he played in the soap opera’s golden era of the mid-80s, would ever wear.

In Tracy Letts’ epic dysfunctional family play, August: Osage County, the Weston family converges on the deteriorating family home when the patriarch disappears, leaving behind his cancer-stricken, pill-popping wife Violet. Esteemed actress Estelle Parsons (an Oscar winner for Bonnie and Clyde) plays the obscenely caustic Violet, but it can be argued that Lau’s louse Steve drives the most disturbing subplot. Steve is younger daughter Karen’s fiancé, and he strikes up a wildly inappropriate relationship with Karen’s fourteen year-old niece. If you have only seen Letts’ more surreal or cartoonish plays like Bug or Killer Joe, you’ll marvel at how effortlessly Letts plunges into the withering heart of a fairly typical upper middle class family, and in the process depicts the disintegration of America’s society as well.


Lau has mostly been known for his work on daytime dramas like All My Children, Another World, One Life to Live, and most recently, As the World Turns. It’s sad news that CBS has canceled As the World Turns, which premiered fifty-three years ago. The show features two of the most high profile gay characters on daytime TV, Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann).

Laurence Lau added some welcome drama when he joined the show as Brian Wheatley, a non-profit director who ended up marrying Luke’s grandmother, Lucinda Walsh (Elizabeth Hubbard). He upset Luke by urging him to hide his sexual orientation for the good of Luke’s non-profit, and later shocked Luke by kissing him. Wheatley was forced to face that he was gay, breaking Lucinda’s heart and driving him to leave town.

Lau’s performance turned a three month role into a more complex one that ran for over seven months. “I was so proud to be asked to take on this storyline,” Lau explained. He and Hubbard felt that Brian should genuinely fall in love with Lucinda, only to discover that he couldn’t resist his feelings for her grandson. “Thereby, what would ensue would be a real tragedy for her and for Brian, to discover that his whole life had been one long journey of denial, painful denial, and what it cost him and what it cost her. The writers kept it going and the audience was really responding.

At the end, they treated the story with lots of respect. They had a wonderful resolve where Brian broke down in tears, crying and shouting, 'I’m gay! I’m gay! Is that what you want to hear?' He was at the point where he wanted to end it all because he was so torn apart. It was touching and heartbreaking to have that moment.”

Later, they brought him back for a final resolution Lau enjoyed. “He came back and he was comfortable in his own skin for the first time in his life. The people that he’d hurt so badly were accepting of him. I thought that was great to play and I got these wonderful letters from across the country from men who had spent years of their lives in similar circumstances. Many of the letters were heartbreaking and beautiful in expressing how much they appreciated that story.” Lau added modestly, “I just spoke the words. I give a lot of credit to producer Chris Goutman and the writers. I was very honored to be a part of it.”


On the other hand, his performance as the amoral Steve Heidebrecht is sure to land him a whole new set of fans. “The jolly perv. That’s my affectionate name for him,” Lau joked. He really enjoyed playing against type, and delving into Steve’s motivations. “Steve doesn’t really think,” he explained. “He doesn’t even realize what he’s up to. He skips along the surface of life without really engaging the seriousness of the consequences of his actions. In that sense, it might be even scarier to confront somebody who’s unaware of their own actions. In a way, he kind of disarms the audience in the beginning. It’s more of a shocker when people really grasp, “My god, this guy’s a pedophile.” It’s fun to play him with an innocent charm and then underneath that is a very destructive person.”

Lau is thrilled to be part of Tracy Lett’s Pulitzer prize-winning play, and marveled that he has “the best seat in the house” at the big dinner table scene in Act II, where Parson’s really lets loose. “I’m looking right across the dining room table and she knocks me out every night. The authenticity of the family drama — all the secrets that come pouring out of the dysfunctional large family,” is what makes August: Osage County so special. “The anger and the rage and the pain and the betrayal and the lies; ultimately, the tragedy of this disintegrating family — I think a lot of people can relate to that,” he explained, adding that they always get standing ovations. “It touches people in really deep ways. The genius of Tracy Letts is that he found humor throughout the entire play that makes it possible to experience this tragedy. If there was no humor, you couldn’t endure it. There’s all this from-the-gut laughter that comes out of the characters and the situations. There’s no gimmick laughter.”


Lau had just returned from filming the 40th Anniversary episode of All My Children, which airs January 5, the same day he opens in August: Osage County in Tempe. He filmed three scenes that set up flashbacks, and it took him back to the days when he and Kim Delaney were the most popular couple on daytime TV. “It was like Romeo and Juliet. We were from opposite sides of the tracks. I had no idea it was going to take off like a rocket. I had a great time, until they blew Jenny up on a Jet-ski,” he joked.

As for future projects, Lau would love to work with Letts and director Annie Shapiro again, and hopes to play some more dramatic roles. “I’ve played a nice guy a lot.” He stopped short of predicting his future projects. “You know what they say, 'You hear God laughing when you start making plans.' We’ll see what happens.”

August: Osage County will play Tempe's Gammage Auditorium from Janury 5 to 10. For more information on the tour, including future dates and locations, visit the show's official website.

Interview by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.
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