Tag Archives: Charles Dickens

Like the Dickens

Posted on January 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

While I was on a business trip in London a few years ago, a surprise snow blanketed the city.  A colleague, looking out the window of our hotel room at the falling snow, quipped:

“It’s so Dickensian!”

And we had our catchphrase.

It did feel like we had stepped back in time, into one of the classic novels we had all read in school.  The snow didn’t last, but the memory of that brief interlude has to this day.

Stateside in 2012, ‘Dickensian’ has an entirely different vibe.

StrangeBeautiful just launched their Dickensian Edition of nail colors, which is roughly 10 different shades…of black.

(Only true New Yorkers can discern the difference.)

Creator Jane Schub said her interpretation of Dickens for the collection was inspired by photography, literature, art, coal and broken shale.

Geez, Jane — did you even read the novels?

They have happy endings.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Beauty, Books, Commentary, Humor, Life, Shopping, Travel

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Muppetational

Posted on March 18, 2010 | Leave a comment

I love “The Muppet Christmas Carol.”

It was the first Muppet movie to feature a human in a starring role — specifically, Michael Caine, as Ebeneezer Scrooge.  With Kermit and Miss Piggy as the Cratchits and Gonzo the Great narrating as Charles Dickens, “The Muppet Christmas Carol” is, in my opinion, the most heartfelt and entertaining retelling of his classic tale.

And now, lucky for us, another Muppet movie featuring a human star is in the works, this time with “How I Met Your Mother” star Jason Segel.

I ask you — does anyone come closer to Muppet in human form?

If you saw the very funny “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” Segel displayed his puppetry skills at the end of the movie in a rock opera his character Peter wrote about Dracula called “A Taste of Love.”

Rumor has it he is writing the script for the new Muppet film, too.  Segel will play an ‘eager young man’ who is on a quest to reunite all the Muppets.

I didn’t realize they had broken up.

Regardless of the storyline, I’m stoked.  I think Segel is a great choice.  And I think a Muppet movie is always a great idea.

It’s time to play the music
It’s time to light the lights
It’s time to get things started….

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Humor, Movies, Television

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Speed demon

Posted on January 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

How many speeds do you have?

I seem to operate at two — off and hyper-speed.

Take New Year’s Day, for instance.  Other than walking Rory in the neighborhood and feeding us both, I sat on the couch and watched the encore presentation of “Little Dorrit” on PBS — all nine hours.  This amazing mini-series based on the lesser-known Charles Dickens classic won an Emmy last year…but even I admit, that’s a lot of TV in one sitting.

But at off speed, it was all I wanted to do.

In contrast, today I am on hyper-speed.  By noon, I had walked the dog, taken down the Christmas tree, removed every holiday decoration from the apartment, re-boxed everything and put it back in the closet (reorganizing it in the process), cleaned the entire place, and washed, dried, folded and put away five loads of laundry.

And now I’m writing my blog before the midday walk with Rory.  I might even run some errands and see a movie this afternoon.

Snap.

I don’t know the biology behind it, but I would guess yesterday’s sloth gave me the stored up energy to breeze through my chores today.  I just know I’m still going strong, and it feels good.

Rory, on the other hand, is taking a full-out nap.

His speed is very consistent: dog mode.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Humor, Movies, Television

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,