Happy Holidays from NOLA, ya’ll!

Uncategorized | No Comments »

On Friday night I went with a co-worker to see the New Orleans Bingo! Show. She’d never seen it before, and afterwards she couldn’t stop raving about how great it was. I first wrote about it here, in the early days of this blog. This show never fails to make me remember all of the things I love about New Orleans… How this city can get into your blood and the real reasons that all of us living here can’t give up on her.

During each show they usually show a couple of short videos. This time the band’s leader, Clint Maegden, made a little speech after they showed my favorite video, Complicated Life. He uploaded it onto YouTube a couple of months ago and is trying to get the video up to 100,000 views. He’s a quarter of the way there so far. This video is what I love about New Orleans in under 5 minutes. Seriously, go take a peek and you’ll see what I mean. (I’d embed the video here, but for some reason I can never get videos to show up in this blog.)

While you’re checking out awesome NOLA videos, take a look at this Current TV piece on The Noisician Coalition. I’ve had the chance to participate in a few of the noise parades, and I’ve got to say, I’m really proud to have these people as my friends.

Uncategorized | No Comments »

I just got an update on the new indie craft documentary, Handmade Nation, from director Faythe Levine. She’s currently in editing mode and is pushing to have a rough cut of the film done by this winter to start entering it into film festivals. The other big news is that she’s also working on a book deal, so if all goes well, there will be a companion book to the documentary. This is all great news for the crafting community!

Producing this film has been a big expense already, with Faythe funding much of it on her own personal credit cards. To help raise some extra much needed funds, she’s just put all of the t-shirts in the indiecraftmovie shop on sale.

All of these shirts feature Faythe’s own “Handmade Nation” illustration screenprinted on American Apparel 50/50 blend unisex t-shirts. The shirts are available in orchid or evergreen in sizes XS - XL, and right now they’re all only $13, plus there’s free shipping within the U.S.!

If you’d like to donate directly via PayPal or check/money order, you can find details at the Indie Craft Documentary website; just look under “Support”. Keep up with the progress of the film at the ICD blog or watch the trailer here.

Uncategorized | No Comments »

My favorite daily eco-friendly email newsletter, Ideal Bite, has announced that they’ll be running a whole week of Eco-Pet tips, which will take place July 23-27. Just sign up by July 20 to make sure you get the whole week’s worth of tips. Pretty cool if you’re trying to green your lifestyle and don’t want to leave your favorite furry friend behind.

In addition to this special week of pet tips, Ideal Bite is also hosting a contest: sign up to receive the newsletter by July 31st and you’ll be automatically entered to win this designer eco-friendly handbag.

In other news, thanks to Tricia from Bits & Bobbins, I’m now obsessed with Current TV. She made a post yesterday that she was stunned to see a segment about her brainchild, the Wardrobe Remix Flickr community, being played on air. After reading about this, I went to check out the Current TV website and discovered that not only is this a super cool channel made up primarily of user-created and chosen content, but since we have DirectTV at my house, I actually receive this channel. I’ve been tuning in ever since.

Uncategorized | No Comments »

I spent part of last night watching The Green on the Sundance Channel. It’s a new regular series of programming dedicated to environmental issues. Some of the stuff they had on last night (which I think was a repeat of programs aired earlier in the week) was really interesting. They profiled a recyclable Ford concept car made from soy-based materials, talked a lot about the Cradle to Cradle philosophy and spotlighted Recycline, a company which creates toothbrushes, razors and tableware out of recycled plastics.

I really want to try out the Recycline toothbrushes. They have a program where you can send back the old, used toothbrushes and razors and they will have them recycled into plastic used in the construction of picnic tables and the like. They’re sold at a lot of health food stores, Whole Foods supermarkets, select Target locations and through their online store.

Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

If you’re located in the Mid-West, and looking for quick weekend trip this summer, consider saving those vacation days until August 24-25th. The Dark Carnival Film Festival will be premiering at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater here in Bloomington, Indiana.

The Dark Carnival Film Festival is quickly becoming a week-long international horror film festival. The event will feature several days of screenings, panels featuring film directors, and an award ceremony.

Enjoy the sarcastic comedic styles of Atomic Age Cinema’s Baron Mardi and Doctor Calamari, along with carnival performers Blue Monkey Sideshow, and DANCE PARTY MASSACRE! a fundraising dance party themed around the slasher films of the 70s and 80s (featuring live “murders” and local bands).

The festival is currently seeking film submissions; if you’re interested, or know someone who is, you will find all the information you need on this page.

The Dark Carnival is a special event fundraiser for Cinephile Film Arts, a local non-profit organization that demystifies filmmaking and provides cinematic opportunities for the local filmmaking community. Event sponsors include Ambush Entertainment who will be featuring their newest horror film Unearthed (which recently showcased at Tri-Be-Ca film fest and Cannes!); Final Draft script-writing software; Haunted Indiana magazine; the The Cinemat (it’s where I rent all my movies!), and our newest sponsor, Troma Entertainment.

Stay tuned as more events are added, more guests are confirmed, and the film selection begins!

Uncategorized | No Comments »

If you’ve got about 8 minutes or so to kill sometime this weekend, I recommend you check out the brand new sneak preview of the indie craft documentary that Faythe Levine and Micaela O’herlihy have been working so hard on for the past year or so. I can’t wait to see the full documentary, which is due to be finished by next spring.

Faythe and Micaela were doing some shooting at the Craft Congress and also unveiled the official new name of the doc there - Handmade Nation! The sneak preview looks great, and I’m sure the finished product will be amazing.

Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Check it out: documentary filmmaker Jeremy Campbell of ten18films has just announced an amazing holiday sale. He’s offering DVDs of Hexing A Hurricane for only $5 on his website, now through December 18. Five bucks, folks! This is a great stocking stuffer idea.

Jeremy quoted my previous review of the film in the announcement he just sent out: “everyone, especially non-New Orleanians, should see this movie. It’s the most accurate telling of what this whole Katrina experience has been like that I’ve seen.”

Seriously, go and buy this film if you have not seen it. If you have, buy a copy or two for friends. It’s an important film, and more people need to see it.

Uncategorized | No Comments »

Today’s “Blog We Love” isn’t just a blog. It’s oh so much more. But first, here’s the blog.

This blog is to help document and promote the Indie Craft Documentary, which is currently in production. This documentary is being produced and directed by Faythe Levine, who is the founder of Milwaukee’s Art Vs. Craft fair, owner of Flying Fish Design, and co-owner of Paper Boat Boutique & Gallery. Her co-conspirator in this ambitious endeavor is Micaela O’herlihy, who came onboard the project as co-director and director of photography. Michaela brings the film know-how to the project…her past work has even been featured in the famous Sundance Film Festival!

Faythe and Micaela have been travelling all over the country during the past months, interviewing artists & crafters, owners of indepedent boutiques, the founders of indie craft fairs and the people who run various online crafty forums. They were recently seen at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago, and they’ll be hitting a bunch of other craft markets all over the U.S. through the end of this year.

Want to help support the Indie Craft Documentary? All that film equipment and travel is bound to get pretty pricey. They’ve set up an Etsy shop selling t-shirts with their logo as well as tons of cool stuff donated by other artists and crafters. You can also show your support by spreading the word about this great project.

Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

If you are so inclined, I’d love it if you would please take a minute and go vote for the “Lookin’ For That Lucky Five” music video on the IFC Media Lab’s New Orleans Film Fest contest.

You’ll be helping to support a great local music act, The Bingo! Show (which I posted about here), as well as Penguin Productions, my boyfriend’s film company.

Half of the films entered in this contest aren’t even made by people from New Orleans or Louisiana! You will have to register to vote but it’s super quick and easy. Voting ends this Friday, September 29.

The winning films from the IFC online contest will be shown in New Orleans on Cox On Demand and at the New Orleans Film Fest in October. I think it’s really important that the films that get chosen to win this contest are by Louisiana filmmakers. The local film community here in New Orleans has come a long way during this past year, in spite of obvious setbacks. Support New Orleans filmmakers and get out the vote!

Uncategorized | No Comments »