The Reconciliation, Part One.

It's not often I get to really geek out (It's also not often I actually get to blog....), but when I do I try to make it good.

WARNING. This post contains spoilers for a buncha things, but mainly Iron Man 3. If you haven't seen it yet, for the love of God, get thee to a computer and Netflix that shit.

The Reconciliation, Part One: The Break-Up.


Almost exactly a year ago, Iron Man 3 came out. This was my penultimate movie, with expectations running amok as I was coming off my high from The Avengers, this was to be the grand finale in the Iron Man saga. We had a phenomenal cast lined up - the obvious, principal players - Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Don Cheadle, but we also had Guy Pierce and the amazing Ben Kingsley rounding out this final installment. The trailers and posters looked amazing, leaked pictures and the media frenzy was promising. I did myself a service and took the advice from River Song and stayed away from spoilers. I wanted this to be special.  I had taken the journey, all the way from the beginning - the opening night midnight showing all those years ago to now, wearing the very same "Mrs. Tony Stark" shirt I had made up for the first occasion. I was a different person, and a different fan, but my love for shellhead was stronger than ever.

The depths of my disappointment was vast. I sat there with Ed, as the credits rolled and tried so hard to smile and say it was perfect. But I couldn't. Because it wasn't. I was let down badly because I felt the movie trashed everything that was exceptional about the comics. The Extermis story line was terribly mishandled, and the epitome of Iron Man villainy - the Mandarin - was turned into a bumbling, lecherous failed actor. A shameful misuse of the amazing talent of Ben Kingsley as well. Iron Man 3 was a nice action movie, over the top, complete with cute kid sidekick and pretty girlfriend, but it was missing heart and soul - that Marvel polish and panache - that defines not only the Iron Man movies but most Marvel movies.  It was a betrayal on a Shakespearean scale. My trust was so broken, I shied away from comics and Marvel all together, weary and leery of anything bearing that red and white logo.

I broke up with Marvel.

It wasn't a fitful break, there was no screaming, crying, gnashing of teeth. No 2 AM texts, drunkenly tapped out in a fit of despair and alcoholism. No shame spiral after realizing what it was you actually texted to the ex. It was quiet, done with a shake of the head, and a firm walking out. It still hurt, but there just wasn't any passion or desire to still be in this quasi-love affair. I was failed, terribly so, and I felt it was best to step away.

In the intervening year I have been able to extrapolate some decency from the movie, find the good things, the silver lining. The ending, and not being snarky here, was well done as it exemplified something that has happened to Tony many, many times in the comics. Losing everything, and building from the ground up. Good. Many suits of armor. Also good (but bad too, since the collection was implemented fairly lamely). Lots of tech, also good but bad too, as we've seen Iron Man up against tech and prevail. Why can't we see our technological wonder up against something he's never seen before, something he hasn't prepared for and will have to use every shred of cognitive skill that brilliant brain of his holds to overcome? Like, say, magic or the supernatural or...something not of this world. Oh, right, because that would have been the realm of The Mandarin (or Doctor Doom, a girl can dream...), and we wouldn't want to follow those silly comic books because that just wouldn't be clever enough.

That, there is the crux of my issues with Iron Man 3. The loss of The Mandarin was a heavy blow as I was really super psyched as I followed the tantalizing hints and clues laid out in the first two movies. I could happily accept The Mandarin as the head of a terrorist organization - it was perfect, really. But was left bitter, disappointed and distrustful of Marvel.

Fast forward to this past weekend.

About a month ago, I made Ed take me to see Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel. I got guilty about it and decided to take Ed out to see Captain America: The Winter Solider, as he'd been dying to see it for over a month now. I had felt guilty because I was willfully ignoring the existence of a new Marvel movie, as I had done with Thor 2. Ignoring Cap was harder though, as he is Ed's main squeeze. It was a great movie, in all honesty, still working hard to tie in those threads from other Marvel movies but maintaining an identity. Also introducing The Falcon, yes! It was nice, it felt good. But my instincts were screaming to not fall into a trap, I would get hurt again.

So, instead of being cautious, I decided that instead of waiting for Netflix, we were going to pick up Thor 2 right after the movie, because I was just in that mood.

Suddenly, and in spite of everything, the game was suddenly changed because of that one Blu-Ray disc.

Continued in Part 2....

Edit:
I'm not going to expostulate further on why I thought Iron Man 3 was terrible. However, here are some articles that articulate my thoughts fairly well:
10 Reasons To Hare Iron Man 3
4 Reasons Why Iron Man 3 Was A Horrible Start to Marvel's Phase 2  (a "normal" movie-goer perspective)
Iron Man 3 Just Isn't Just Bad, It's Downright Insulting

Vintage Finds of the Pyrex Kind

Wait, whut?

Yes, you read the title of this post correctly. Pyrex. Vintage Pyrex to be exact. It's kinda my new thing, which pretty much happened out of nowhere.

It started when I felt that I needed new mixing bowls and I wanted vintage mixing bowls to give my kitchen a special touch. I recalled from my distant childhood seeing sets of bowls with handles and printed flowers. That's pretty much it. I set about finding the these bowls, first at the Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market. Um, yeah, fucking awesome place, lots of cool vintage and handmade items but no vintage cookware (I was totally cool with that as I scored a ton of awesome shit).

So, I decided I should try the local antique mall. For those who don't know, an antique mall is usually a large space divided up into stalls or separate areas. Vendors rent these spaces out and carefully tag their items with a code so when you go to pay at a central register, they get paid. I really like the place I go to, it's stuffed full of awesome vintage and antique items and the prices are fairly decent.

I scoured the place, and found exactly what I was looking for:

Pretty much EXACTLY what I had in mind. I was STOKED. I browsed around and found this:

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is awesome.

Pink, 1950's divided casserole dish. So very cute, right?

At this point I was happy. I found the bowl I was looking for, and a really terribly adorable casserole dish that was cool for just being a piece of cookware older then me. I also discovered what this stuff actually was - "pyrex". It gave me some pause as I knew I had some random, yet rather ugly, piece of pyrex in my kitchen. Who knew it came in colors?

A few days later a co-worker, knowing my recent proclivities, brought in this really nifty article for me to read. The piece detailed a local couple who transformed their boring kitchen into a 50's style diner kitchen, complete with Juke Box, teal blue booth and kitchen accessories. Whilst finding the right accouterments for their kitchen, they started collecting vintage Pyrex. The article pretty much ends with how the guy got into collecting cookware and basically how awesome pyrex is.

Whut?

This stuff is collectible?

The article mentioned a website, called Pyrex Love, which was my next stop. Pretty much it's an online compendium of everything pyrex and related to pyrex. Extremely useful for collecting.

From there, I was off and running:

Meet (from left to right): Butterprint refrigerator dish, Friendship round cinderella casserole dish, and Butterfly Gold small cinderella mixing bowl.

Two things: YES, I use most of my pyrex for it's intended uses. No, I don't nuke it in the microwave. Also, I discovered my red guy had a lid, after some research on Pyrex Love. First ebay pyrex purchase, and I was SO nervous it would break. It arrived in perfect shape. (The home made mac and cheese was also delicious!)

From what I understand, the refrigerator sets are not terribly rare, just terribly popular. Probably for the age, kitsch factor, colors and dead usefulness. This set was missing one little red box, I picked it up for 25 bucks, quite a steal.

One of my more recent finds, from the antique store, the Daisy mixing bowl set. It's in really good shape and has already gotten lots of use.

PLATES?!? Yep, they match the little tea cups pictured with the refrigerator box set. I love these. They are so sturdy and extremely pretty. I got mine a little faded, but I don't care.

Above is probably my best piece. I wish I could brag that I found it in the "wild", but it was really on ebay. It's called Balloons, and is a limited edition promotional set called a chip n dip. You see, people in the 50's were more civilized, and seemed to have eaten their chips and dips from actual bowls and not just shoved a mass of chips and dips into their craws as we do today. Anyway, I just have the chip bowl. The dip bowl is hard to find and forget about the bracket to put it all together.


This isn't even the start of what I have. I have acquired more since there pictures were taken (all from my Instafeed, lawl) and I keep getting more. What is it that draws me to this? I couldn't tell you. I love to cook, so having quirky conversational cookware is pretty ballin to me. It's also a no-brainier as I have developed a fascination with all things vintage. I love the idea of a different time, where you brought casseroles to a new neighbor in a pretty dish to welcome them to the neighborhood. Or served up something delicious at a BBQ in a beautiful bowl. The presentation was just as good as the food itself. Perhaps it's that attention to detail and craftsmanship we lack in today's world. Go to Wal-Mart and browse the cookware department. You'll see the same sturdy names from yesteryear - Pyrex and Anchor-Hocking, but the designs are boring and plain. A one size fits all approach to individuality. For someone who embraces her uniqueness and je ne sais quoi, the crap on those shelves is not worth it. It's worth noting that some of my bowls, dishes and bakewear is nearly older than me and my fiancee - combined. That these items have held up over the years speaks volumes about the quality. I have a set of dishes from Target that's pretty much chipped to hell and that was bought only seven years ago.

So, where do I find this stuff? It's tough to find anything good out in the "wild". Thrift stores are usually my first place to stop. There is one large thrift store near me that sometimes has some good finds, like the large yellow mixing bowl from the primary set and red and blue fridge boxes (I bought the blue one, it looked so sad). I see more Corning items and Glassbake than anything. I have also seen the ubiquitous fruit pattern from FireKing countless times. I am still waiting for that ultimate score. I can't help but think the guy from the kitchen article above is picking everything over in the area, haha.

I get frustrated from scouring thrift stores and then go to the Antique Mall to get my fix. I'm not lying, it really is like a fix. The prices there are good, sometimes better than Ebay, and ALWAYS better than smaller boutique like antique stores. I have just recently tried flea markets, one nice one my mother dragged me to as a kid was called "Golden Nugget" in the Lambertville area in New Joisey. They have an outdoor area filled with wonders and an inside building area filled with wonders. One stall like area is JUST PYREX. Well, mostly. She's got Jadeite, Corning, and some other random items. But her prices are astronomical. She knows how much she can charge and has had issues competing with Etsy. I don't buy Pyrex from Etsy. It's overpriced for the idiot hipsters who don't know how to use Ebay. I tend to use Ebay with great sucess and get some amazing deals on there. I've never had a mishap in shipping and never felt I was overpaying.

All in all, Pyrex is pretty much my new thing. It's a fun and fairly cheap collectible. Just...where the hell am I going to put all this stuff!?!

Cheers,
-GG

Things I am Crushing On

Just a wee list of things I can't live without right NOW, in no particular order:

This dress. I just got it like, not 2 hours ago from Forever 21 and looks fabulous! I do seem to be amassing a collection of retro inspired dresses.


The NEW Coach Poppy Leather Pushlock Satchel in black. The lines and design are SO classic, but the little ribbon and brass fittings keep it fun and contemporary. Plus, Poppy seems to have grown up a bit! You can find her at Coach


Stupidly addicting, I just can't help myself. I love the fact that your Sims must "party up" to complete quests and tasks, just like in an RPG, or a dungeon crawl. Cleverly well done, and Patrick Stewart does the opening voice over!

I am re-reading this book for the second time. It's been a while, so I am still getting surprises out of it! Just waiting, waiting, waiting for the third book.




It's been very hot lately, and in addition to being delicious plastic tubes of frozen sugar water, they are cooling and refreshing!


And that is all for now, I am going to go stick my head in the freezer and cool off.

Valentines Day: Top 10 Things I have been loving,

10. Bayonetta

I have been stupidly obsessed with this game since I first saw an advertisement for it hanging in Gamestop. I immediately loved the fact that she wears glasses ( like me!) and still kicks ass. Upon watching the trailers I noticed that she has what looked like lollipops in her mouth (yes, lollipop, not sucker or taffy, you freaks). And here's the kicker - she makes her clothes out of her insane hair. Yes, she's my new video game hero, or at least until I start playing TR:Underworld again (not going into why I have to restart, that is a rant for another day).

9. Season Six of LOST

Some people get it, some people don't and some are just completely confused. I fall somewhere in between confused and getting it. But I still can't get enough of this show, especially this newest season. My biggest qualm is that even though we're getting answers, more questions keep cropping up, just like in past seasons. Plus at times, it just feels like we're back at square one, all over again. And how exactly is the biggest question going to be answered: How will this end?

8. Hard Candy cosmetics at Wal-Mart

The other day I was in my local Wal-Mart, when I turned a corner in the make-up section, trying to extricate myself from a crush of people and carts when I literally fell into the Hard Candy display. Wow. I was surprised because HC was a pretty upscale brand back in the day and expensive too. But they had cute little kits and cases for their products, and the quality was good too. I quickly scooped up the Baked Eye Shadow Duo in Rush Hour, Tinted Lip Balm in Carol and Ginormous Mascara in Carbon Black. I really enjoyed the products - the packages are attractive, the eye shadow blends really well (especially with my Sonia Kashuk brushes) and the mascara! Oh! Little to no clumps and the brush is small with small bristles. I will definitely be buying more.

7. Tan Trench Coat

I have been plotting to buy this trench for weeks. I am telling you, as soon as I get paid I am buying this thing. I checked it out in the store and lo and behold, it's quite nice. The outside shell is thick, the lining is soft and colorful. It's not warm coat, but perfect for the spring. I believe a tan trench is a great staple for any wardrobe and a great investment. This will be a piece I shall have forever.

6. Sano Ichiro Novels by Laura Joh Rowland

I don't remember how I got into these books, I think my Aunt gave me one in a bag of books to be passed along to my mom. Regardless, these books stuck a chord with me because, a) I loved anything having to do with japan and b) they are historical. As a history nerd, I couldn't not pass these up, especially since they are so well written. All the little historical details in the books - like clothing, food and even down do how a person was supposed to hold their hands. And of course, the mysteries are well written and completely absorbing.

5.This Top from Torrid

It looks a LOT nicer in real life. Really. The cool part, there are zippers in little places, like the shoulder and across the front on the pink under layer. It makes for a really cool effect and look. I dig the punk rockness, but at the same time I like the attention to the fact that zippers are really in right now.


4. IRON MAN 2

Yeah, YEAH! This is another one I cannot wait for. It looks to be bigger and more action packed than the last one, with a glittering cast. The trailer? Amazing. It still looks as it Tony Stark's still got it. This just might be the antidote for the depressing recent comics ( at least the ones as of a few months ago, I lost track). And note the end of the trailer...you may then jump up and go "HELL YES!"

3. The Daily Mail

For some reason I stumbled on to DM after doing a search on more Bridget Jones info, and saw the list of articles they had. It was amazing. All this lovely info from England. For some reason, I just kind of fell for it, and even though some of it doesn't make sense, or goes over my head I still read every day.

2. Poppy by Coach

Specifically the navy blue Op Art Glam Tote. Obsessed, Obsessed. I was going to go with the graffiti one, but I decided the blue tote was classier, but still extremely fun and falling into the poppy line. But, of course, I have to wait for it considering I like having a roof over my head.

1. My Fiancee, Eddie.

Yeah yeah, I love him everyday, but he really made today extra special, so for that, he is my number 1 :D