Lifestyle notes: Emma, Beyonce, Bridesmaids and more

I just realized that I’ve only done one single post during the past week and I’m honestly ashamed. One post a week will hardly push the blog forward and make it grow as I want it too. The fact that I started actively going to the gym is barely an excuse – the lack of self-organization is real enemy here. On another note I found that to keep more organized with the blog I need to do more regular weekly features – yeah, that’s the former weekly newspaper lifestyle section editor speaks in me.

So I give you the Notes (likely the new regular feature) – things that inspired strong (relatively at least) impressions in me over the past week and which also generally influence lifestyle, pop culture and … well … fashion.

Emma Watson showed up a the premiere of her latest movie (the one that has no need to be named) with new hair – and I personally think it’s adorable.

She sure rocked the pixie crop but I guess I really prefer longer haircuts on women. Plus, when you have very little hair on your head you have to really plan your accessories and makeup around it at all times since you have no gorgeous locks to hide behind. Again, I believe Emma was totally pulling it off, but the same can’t be said for at least a part of all those celebrities who caught the “short” fever along with Emma (and in some cases – because of her). Anyway, her new “almost bob” provides great hair inspiration as well as a style tip for those trying to grow out the hair after a pixie crop.

Beyonce has released her newest album “Year of 4” and though I’m not gonna hear but a few hits form it as usual (I’m not really a mainstream pop fan), I really loved this new video for the single “Best Thing I Never Had.” Visuals are simply gorgeous and the lyrics are very fitting too – I’m pretty sure every girl has a man she could dedicated this to. 

“True Blood” is back on and after seeing two episodes of the fourth season I have to say that my hopes of improvement after season 3 were in vain.

I know plenty of fans still love it as it is, but I initially fell for Blood’s “sex, drugs & rock’n’roll” feel and the original take on vampires – the first two seasons clearly stated that while vampires are surely a menace to society, humans with their double standards, intolerance and thirst for blood (different from that of vampires, but no less damaging) are the True danger onto themselves. However, starting the third season the population of various creatures in the story suddenly increased – werewolves, shape shifters, some sorta panther people and even fairies (seriously, fairies??) joined the monsters’ ball. Man, I miss the time when we had no idea why Sookie was a mind-reader and plus that was the only mystery that remained within the show. And now – what we have a small redneck town populated by so many creatures that there is hardly any room left for people. Also any semblance of a central plot is gone – story just keeps on jumping from one thing to another, getting less and less convincing. Anyways, Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) is our only hope – he’s the only one who still keeps his cool when even Lafayette has lost his edge after getting involved with the stupid witch cult.

This week I went to see “Bridesmaids” which has just now come out in Greece.

Really entertaining and quite refreshing to see a comedy about women which is not stupid, bitchy, cheese, and has nothing to do with husband/boyfriend hunting and shoe shopping. Kristen Wiig plays Annie – a cool and witty failed bakery owner who seems to have failed in most other things too, since at her age she works as a shop assistant, lives with two obnoxious roommates and has no boyfriend/husband but a complete jerk for a fuck buddy. But things take a sudden turn for the worse when Annie’s best friend Lilian gets engaged and appoints her the maid of honor. Soon Annie finds herself competing for Lilian’s friendship (clearly the only stable and valuable thing in her life) with another bridesmaid, Helen (Rose Byrne) – a trophy wife and a complete phony who doesn’t play fair. Indeed the movie gets a tad too sentimental and it’s a little too long, but still a very very worthy watch. It also got me thinking about how much bullshit people go through (and spend money on) to just get married. I mean I thought a fancy wedding party was a major hassle on its own, but all these engagement parties, showers and bachelorette trips? I know it’s all cute as hell, but it’s also phony as hell and way too much ceremony for 21 century!

And as the last note for today, I ordered books from Amazon for the first time ever.

Well, you know, I really prefer browsing at proper book stores, but here in Athens selection of books in English is really slim and the rest are all in Greek, so I can’t even get books by Ukrainian and Russian authors, or translations (from languages other than English) into Ukrainian/Russian. Anyway, my first Amazon experience was seriously disappointing – not only I paid 20 bucks only for handling and delivery of my four books (cheapest option available), estimated delivery date is … wait for it … 11 of August – after having shipped on 7 of July! WHAT the hell??? What is it going to ship by – Tom Hanks in Castaway on a makeshift raft across the ocean? I really would like an answer to that… Anyway, looks like those would be the first and last books I buy from Amazon because it’s just plain humiliating. Also I clearly need to get an e-reader to save me book hassle in the future – it may as well be Kindle, though when I think about the possible waiting time… No, I can’t even think about it right now. Too stressful.

Caught in the summer rain

Ironically, summer began in GREECE - the country so famous for its warm weather - with a rain! It was warm but pretty heavy, and I bet someone who was caught in it without an umbrella - or even with one - could have been soaked wet, which can be quite annoying if you're on your way to work, a meeting or simply have things to do and can't rush home for a change of clothes.

But I'm sure all of us also have some lovely memories related to a summer rain, those times when it made us happier rather than upset, or when we didn't really care if we got soaked and our makeup got smudged because we happened to be very happy that very moment.

Either way, summer rain has its special magic to it, it has that special smell and even after it's over the air keeps that strangely alluring fresh smell for a while. And everything looks so crystal clear after the rain... And, finally, as we all know, there is no rainbow without a rain! So, inspired by those thoughts and memories I put together this quick summer rain post. Kudos to Pinterest for helping me find some of those beautiful pics!

Gene Kelly in "Singing in the Rain"

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"My Neighbour Totoro"

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CANNES Part 1: the Dresses

CANNES has just announced its big winners, so it's about time for a round-up of my own festival favorites, which I decided to break into two simple categories: the DRESSES and the MOVIES. The Movies part is to follow soon since I need some extra time for research, so I will start with the dresses. Also I didn't feel like criticizing much, so I listed only my favorite ones here, so feel free to assume that the rest I either hated or remained completely indifferent about.

I believe the star of Woody Allen's latest - "Midnight in Paris" - was the main attraction on the red carpet this time around. Although this praise may have a little something to do with recently seeing "Morning Glory" which revealed to me that RACHEL MCADAMS can do much better than cliche-packed films like "The Notebook." But, back to her dresses. This little number here is clearly risqué and in part resembles a curtain, yet I think she pulls it off.

This, on the contrary, is very classy and demure - very fitting for photo-call.

I think it's not so much the dress, but the overall look of MIA WASIKOWSKA that prompted me to give her my vote. I'm just too used to seeing her as an awkward mousy teenager, usually in pale dresses that don't compliment her at all, so that this remotely classic Hollywood look immediately caught my eye.

Another Cannes surprise for me here. I'm generally not a fan of KIRSTEN DUNST's personal style, but this totally captured me. It's clearly all about color here, since there is nothing too special about the dress itself. Note, dear fashionistas, a great color-blocking tip!

Say what you will about SARAH JESSICA PARKER, but I think she made a very smart choice with this dress. It's so boho chic - with the accent on chic - and so different from monochrome gowns most of her fellow actresses packed for Cannes.

I must confess I never saw JESSICA CHASTAIN in action (in movies or on TV) but "The Tree of Life" just got Palme D'Or, so I guess she's kind of important. And the dress is a good choice - elegant, a tad vintage and the color is perfect for redheads like herself.

I guess ANGELINA JOLIE would look a bit boring next to an all-white Brad in the previous photo, so I'm happy to catch her on her own. Angie here spots a simple yet winning look: feminine, airy and forever gorgeous.

ZOE SALDANA's number is obviously the wildest one on this list. I'm still fighting associations with a cheap plastic bag in the skirt part of the dress, yet I give her extra points for the dare. Plus it sits perfect on her and, against all odds, doesn't distort her figure.

And the last but not least is UMA THURMAN. She does indeed look quite a bit like a Bride (no pun intended) - especially from the back, but the front cutout magically turns the dress into an evening gown.

"True Blood" returns for season 4 in June

It's less than a month till "TRUE BLOOD" premiers its fourth season - on June 26 to be precise. Surely, all of its fans should be excited, and I kinda am too, though previous season seriously cooled off my sentiments about the show.

Not sure what happened there, the writers were taking to much drugs (read: drinking vampire blood) or what, but the storyline was a total disaster. Rather than having one central plot and a couple supporting ones like in 2 previous seasons, the show completely lost its footing, moving in a dozen different directions at a time, so much that it was almost impossible to keep up with the events. It pretty much turned into a slasher where someone gets brutally murdered or drenched in blood every 5 minutes - TRUE BLOOD indeed. I remember an episode where Bill first almost killed Sookie, than saved her, than they said goodbye forever and then they finished it off by having crazy monkey sex right at the murder scene. By the end of the season one just couldn't help feeling sick of Sookie and Bill, who suddenly lost all of his masculine romantic hero appeal - and considering those 2 are the central characters, it can't be a good sign... The season finale also left innumerable loose ends, so "Previously on True Blood" is a must-see before getting down to watching SEASON 4.

Of course I'm not giving up on "True Blood" just yet - I still hope it has something to surprise me with. After all, I started watching it not because I'm a crazy vampire fan (No "Twillight" for me!), but because of its "Sex, Drugs & Rock'n'roll" attitude and killer opening credits combined with obvious social satire on racism, segregation, religion fanatics and the like. But the latter was almost completely absent from third season, so, please, please, "True Blood," get better!

P.S.: I couldn't help feeling nostalgic about how it all began, so to give you a little feel...

Carrie Bradshaw vs. Reality

I just got tipped off (by the heartIFB on Twitter in fact!) about a great column by a fellow blogger TheFremeny titled "Carrie Bradshaw Math." Truth is, even though I never bothered to actually "do the math" (for one thing I'm not a fan of math), I have been long bothered by the same question TheFremeny asks in her post: "How the hell could Carrie ever sustain her luxurious lifestyle by writing one single newspaper column a week?" Indeed there are plenty of moments in the show that are seriously far-fetched (to say the least), but OK, it's a movie - it's supposed to get kinda fairtalish from time to time. Yet, the gap between Carrie's lifestyle, her source of income and reality is far too BIG to ignore.

All three Carrie's girlfriends have presumably highly paid jobs - Miranda is a lawyer, Samantha does PR and later owns a PR company, and Charlotte is an art-dealer who later marries rich, then remarries to a successful lawyer - with a Park Avenue apartment as dowry from previous marriage. Carrie, on the other hand, only writes a newspaper article a week, apparently has no other incomes, yet she rents a very nice apartment in a very nice area, has a wardrobe full of top designer labels and of course a mountain of Manolos and other pricy shoes.

Now, unlike TheFremeny, I don't live in New York and can't knowingly speak of prices for everything or the paychecks of freelance columnists. But we live in the age of information so I can have some rough idea, plus I have personally known New Yorkers, among them journalists, who honestly said it's hard to sustain yourself on a journalist's salary even working full-time - you may want an extra job!

And here we have a lady who cannot realistically make more than a few thousand bucks a month, yet, she, almost like a biblical character, is able to stretch this modest amount 50-times its original size to cover all her luxurious needs from rent to shopping to dinners at top-notch restaurants and outings at best night clubs. Yes, allusions to Carrie being a shopoholic and the money problems she faces because of it are made a few times in the show, most memorably in the episode where she's being forced out of her apartment unless she buys it. But in the end she still has it easy - borrows money from friends and starts freelancing for Vogue - case closed. And of course the unexpected book deal followed soon after, clearly solving all of Carrie's cash problems for good.

I wonder how many independent women actually living and working in New York raised their eyebrows at the way Carrie hops though life without a care in the world (unless freshly heartbroken by Mr. Big), while most of them have to work hard dusk till dawn to even afford a small fraction of her lifestyle. I mean, would it have killed the show creators to give Carrie a full-time job as a fashion writer, editor, stylist etc. - who also writes her own column, or a writer who has already published a successful book? After all, if you make a character who is supposed to be an epitome of a successful single woman - aren't you supposed to make her seem a little more real?

It's funny how "Sex And the City" works so well as a show about relationships and free-spirited independent women - so much that it can even serve as therapy in time of personal life dramas - yet it so miserably fails when it comes to the more practical side of life, such as the skills of survival in New York or any other big city where life is expensive, competition is huge, and you have to do your best and work your hardest to even get a decent job with a decent salary. In that respect, compared to "SATC," "Devil Wears Prada" is a self-help book.

House M.D.'s musical turn

HOUSE M.D. used to be my favorite show. But by season 6 it has gotten so self-repetitive, sentimental and almost predictable, that I continued watching only as a habit and because Hugh Laurie's doc is such a pleasure to observe. Yet, episode 15, "Bombshells," of season 7 has just proved that the show still has ways to surprise me, even if does so by dipping into alternative genres such as sitcom, action, zombie horror and musical. This video is Lisa Cuddy's final dream sequence.

"Mad Men" returning for 2 more seasons

Great news for all MAD MEN fans out there - including myself! Mad Men executive producer Matt Weiner has finally struck a deal with AMC and production company Lionsgate to renew the show for seasons 5 and 6, and, possibly, 7. Weiner also pointed out that seventh season (if it is to happen) would also be the end of Mad Men - as that's "how long the story is." The only sad part is that we have 17 months to wait for next season, which won't be airing until MARCH 2012. In the meantime I leave you with some cool poster and magazine art for the fabulous and admittedly most stylish show on TV today...