"Aunt Hilda" unmasked!

Readers, the cat's out of the bag, and I'll have more to say about cats in a minute.  The true identity of my Aunt Hilda, I mean, my "Aunt Hilda" has been revealed!

Those of you who happened to visit BurdaStyle yesterday know that I am leading a sew-along there, starting yesterday and running throughout September, which just happens to be National Sewing Month.  I'll have a new post each week!

There are two sew-alongs happening simultaneously, actually.  The other -- more elementary, by the way -- is being led by the indomitable Gretchen, who, based on her first sew-along post yesterday, seems to be veering alarmingly into Edie Beale crazy-cat-lady territory.

Most of you already know Gretchen as The Selfish Seamstress.  OK, she's really Gertie, but seriously, there are so many cats on Gretchen's blog that it is easy to confuse her with that other catty gal -- who is also a cat owner, I believe.   

I was actually thinking of doing a blog post today titled Cat Sewers vs. Dog Sewers but I woke up too late to tackle it.  I still might if somebody else doesn't steal the idea.  Don't, OK?

But let's get back to Aunt Hilda.

Aunt Hilda is BurdaStyle Halter Dress Pattern #116.  Pretty, though I'll be skipping the coordinating Lifesaver.

And since it's just you and me here on my blog, can I just share a little something?  This pattern is haaard, at least it is for me.  Especially because I'm making it for somebody else, in this case, New York actress Leah X.

Wait -- Leah is an actress: don't actresses PAY to have people remember their names (like on That Girl)?  Her name is Leah Curney -- C.U.R.N.E.Y. -- it's no secret.  Musical plays, straight plays, juggling -- Leah's your gal!  She also has a great attitude, as opposed to my cousin Cathy, who just has attitude.

Bitter.

Here we are hard at work, and let me assure you if the roles had been reversed, I would have knocked Leah flat out on the floor in that pose, need I say more?  



As you well know, I am not the kind of sewer who sits down with directions and carefully studies each step beforehand.  Plus, come on, you know how Burda directions tend to be -- German translated into English by an Italian.  So I didn't order enough fabric, since the bolt for the fabric I chose was narrower than the bolt Burda used to estimate yardage on the pattern directions.

The powers-that-be had to Express Mail me extra.

The skirt for the dress has four pleats, four very deep pleats, meaning it uses a lot of fabric -- nearly enough to make three skirts when you think about what's actually going on in a pleat (the fabric is folded back on itself, and then attaches to an underlay).



Here I am fitting the skirt onto the bodice and I assure you it won't make Leah look fat when it's finished.  But it's a lot of fabric and I chose a particularly heavy cotton (it's hard to order the perfect fabric sight unseen, I have learned).



Another challenge is that all the skirt panel seam lines have to match the bodice seam lines, and the skirt not only has six panels, but also four of them have a pleat underlay.  So narrowing a skirt panel is not as simple as merely restitching a single seam.  The seams attach to the underlay, over which the outer (blue) fabric is folded -- does that make sense?  I may have to check out how Gretchen is making her pleated skirt.  Is that cheating?

(BTW, would you press the seam allowances attaching the outer skirt fabric to the underlay panels open or to the side?  The fold is on the seam allowance itself.  Does anybody know what I'm talking about?)

Finally, I don't have Leah here all the time for fittings, nor do I have a body form her size.  So there's a lot of waiting involved.

OK, enough bellyaching.  It's very fun to make this dress and I hope you'll follow along -- or at least follow the backstage gossip here on MPB.   It's so nice to know I can unburden myself among supportive friends!

In closing....Cat People: don't you think they are a little strange?  I mean, think of all the famous dog heroes out there: Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Benji, the list goes on and on.

What comes to mind when you think of cats?

I have nothing against cats, but I do recognize that they are scary and often evil.

Do you own an evil cat?

And how will YOU be celebrating National Sewing Month? 

Have a great day, everybody!

Have you réjuvéniqued today?

HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY..... HH(:

I hope U enjoy my photos and articles... Thanks for visiting Sunshine Magazine Volume 1... please check out Sunshine Magazine Volume 2 at www.sunshinemagazine2@blogspot.com - thanks and please check out the interviews I did on the red carpet recently with legendary stars like Debbie Reynolds, Florence Henderson, Rip Taylor, Anne Jeffreys, Mitzi Gaynor and legendary producer A.C. Lyles online at www.youtube.com for Diversity TV. Special Thanks to Steve Escobar for the opportunity.

Favorite Online Sewing Resources!

Readers, we all love sewing blogs.  In fact, if it weren't for sewing blogs like this one, I wouldn't be the Troy Donahue of men's sewing (with a 43.95% sexy index).  But today I want to focus on something else: the online sewing communities and organizations that serve us home sewers best.

An acquaintance recently told me of a volunteer-run sewing organization located in Ithaca, New York, Sew Green.  On their website, I stumbled upon this surprising statistic, from the Home Sewing Association:

Interest in personal sewing and clothing design has increased dramatically in the past few years. The Home Sewing Association estimates that the number of sewing enthusiasts in the U.S. has increased by 5 million since 2000, and annual sales of the leading brand of sewing machines has doubled since 1999.  

Of course I was intrigued by the numbers, but more than anything I wondered, What in the world is the Home Sewing Association??

It turns out that there is currently no Home Sewing Association as such: they closed their doors in 2007.  Or did they?

There is a site called Sewing.org and I've seen online references to the Home Sewing Association that now link there.  Does anybody know what the relationship is?   They both share a Monroeville, PA address.  But there's nothing on the Sewing.org site about who they are or what they do beyond "Sewing.org is part of the Sewing & Craft Alliance (SCA).  SCA provides education and creative resources to the sewing and craft enthusiast."  They do offer a free men's sewing tutorial for a cable cache -- "a gift for a special someone" -- however.

Of course, there is the non-profit American Sewing Guild, which operates out of Houston, Texas.  I know many MPB readers are members and are active on the ASG boards.  I'm not, for no other reason than that I only recently heard about ASG.   Are you a member?  I should probably join.

My online introduction to sewing was via Pattern Review, and it's a site I love.  It's not the most sophisticated-looking sewing site out there, but it works well, and it's a fantastic resource for those interested in learning sewing techniques, looking to purchase a new (or vintage) sewing machine, and most obviously, for anyone interested in reviews of new (and many vintage) patterns.  

There are many advanced sewers on PR with decades of experience who are active on their message boards -- a great place to go with sewing-related questions.  There are also contests and classes and much more.   As a man, I've found Pattern Review to be extremely helpful and tremendously supportive.  They even have a "Men Who Sew" section on their message board.  I've found membership to be well worth the nominal cost.



Undoubtedly hipper is BurdaStyle, another favorite sewing site.  BurdaStyle members seem to skew younger than sites like Pattern Review, but I've never felt unwelcome there and I'm no kid (wheeze...).  As a more commercial website, there's a slicker feel there than at Pattern Review, with a focus on BurdaStyle patterns.  But anyone can post photos of any sewing project, and it's also an excellent resource for those with sewing-related questions.   Male sewers are active there, too, albeit in relatively small numbers.

Readers, as far as online communities and sewing organizations for home sewers go, these are the ones I am familiar with.

What other sewing communities are you involved with, not including blogs?  Are there any you particularly recommend to others, especially new sewers? 

Is there any organization keeping statistics on the popularity of home sewing that you know of?  Where would one go to find the most recent information?

I cede the floor to you...

"If I wanted Chekhov, I'd have worn my polo neck": The best existing songs that are theme music for shows you've probably never heard of

1. "Somebody Start a Fight or Something" by TISM (The Green Room with Paul Provenza)
This rousing 2004 track by the Aussie alt-rock band TISM delivers a message of "Drop your pretentious airs and start keeping it real" ("Listen, motherfucker, let me make this clear/I've had your fucking poetry up to here... If I wanted Chekhov, I'd have worn my polo neck"), so it's the perfect theme music for a frank and uncensored Showtime stand-up comic panel show that's the anti-Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen.

In other words, the stand-ups are required to have an actual conversation with each other, instead of pretending they're having a conversation when what they're really doing is just reciting their routines. Moderator Paul Provenza's anti-Comics Unleashed format has resulted in lively and thought-provoking discussions like the one Provenza, Bill Burr, Lizz Winstead, Russell Peters, Colin Quinn, Caroline Rhea and Tony Clifton (!) had about Tracy Morgan's apologies for his homophobic jokes during a recent episode that took place at Montreal's Just for Laughs festival. (Also in that same episode, Peters, an Indian Canadian comic, gives the funniest description of what porn flicks are like in a country where its movie stars can't even kiss onscreen. I can't do Peters' Indian porn joke any justice if I attempt to repeat it, so I won't attempt to.)

During an interview to promote The Green Room, Provenza said one of the purposes of his show is to get stand-ups who are always "on" to leave behind their one-liner comfort zones or stage personas and just be themselves. The frequent archness of the present-day stand-up world is a trend he dislikes:

Many comedians these days "take on characters. It's a lot of winking and nodding. Some comedians almost even apologize for the fact that they're working in the form of comedy, and they make fun of the form as they're doing it. That's the overriding trend. So what you get is people who are not actually talking from the heart. They're always putting some layer of detachment from their real, you know, emotional and intellectual passions."

In other words, he wants them to pull no punches, whether it's onstage or on The Green Room. Somebody start a fight or something.



2. "Yalili Ya Aini" by Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart (The Smartest Man in the World)
I first heard this hypnotic 1994 track by former Public Image Ltd bassist Jah Wobble, his band Invaders of the Heart and singer Natacha Atlas (Allmusic calls it "one of the best bits of sexy, North African lurch that Wobble and [guitarist Justin] Adams have ever set to tape") while tuning in to SomaFM's Secret Agent, which has it on constant rotation. So when it wound up as the theme music for comedian Greg Proops' stream-of-consciousness podcast The Smartest Man in the World, I thought, "Sweet! It's that Arabian-sounding chillout joint from Secret Agent with the title that always escapes me."

"Yalili Ya Aini" perfectly establishes the nocturnal and international feel of The Smartest Man, which is recorded in front of a live audience, either at The Smartest Man's homebase, West Hollywood's Bar Lubitsch, or whatever venue Proops is performing at that night, whether it's in his old home turf of San Francisco or Melbourne. Unlike most comedy podcasts, The Smartest Man doesn't follow an interview format.

"I knew I didn't want to do that [interview format] because other people were doing it and doing better. Marc [Maron] and Jimmy [Pardo] and everybody just murdering it," said Proops to Laughspin.

What listeners are getting in each Proopcast is essentially an extra 60-to-70-minute stand-up set by Proops. But instead of joke-after-joke-after-joke, Proops delivers not-always-jokey but always interesting ruminations on current events, music, film history, baseball history (he's particularly fond of the San Francisco Giants and the achievements of the Negro Leagues, so he's joked that no Proopcast is complete without him mentioning Satchel Paige) and politics (he's progressive, so President Obama, who has been to progressives what the Green Lantern movie is to nerds, irks him as much as the Tea Party does).

The Smartest Man is where I got my first exposure to British punk poet John Cooper Clarke's "Evidently Chickentown," which Proops once recited to thunderous applause. I've become a new fan of "Evidently Chickentown"--and I don't even like spoken word (here's how much I understand the appeal of spoken word: whenever there's a slam poet on TV, I'm like, "Okay, when's the DJ gonna show up and drop the beat?").

Basically, The Smartest Man is like Craig Ferguson's freewheeling monologue but much more political and not as Scottish. And a little trancey, thanks to "Yalili Ya Aini."



3. "Elysian Fields" by Minus 8 (Elvis Mitchell: Under the Influence)
Elvis Mitchell had the suavest opening titles of any interview show. On a loungy-looking NEP Studios set decorated with dangling lightbulbs, Mitchell walked out dressed to the nines, to the tune of the swanky 2000 downtempo track "Elysian Fields" by Minus 8, a.k.a. Swiss DJ/producer Robert Jan Meyer. This wasn't Conan in a suit gawkily riding his bicycle through Manhattan in the opening credits, that's for damn sure.

Under the Influence, in which the host of KCRW's The Treatment would chat with actors and directors about movies and movie stars they admire, was produced for only one season on TCM in 2008, but TCM still airs it from time to time. The Bill Murray episode is worth DVRing (the Laurence Fishburne ep is pretty good too). Mitchell was able to get Murray, who's notoriously guarded (except when he's on Letterman), to open up during his show and give candid discussions about movie acting and comediennes he either enjoyed watching ("Elaine May is like the most attractive woman in the world... If I had come up when Elaine May was coming up, I would have chained her to a typewriter and made love to her like every four hours just to keep her going. She's the funniest.") or couldn't understand the appeal of ("[Lucille Ball] never really made me laugh for some reason. I don't know why. Lucy was never my girl.").

"Elysian Fields" was a great choice to open and close a TCM interview show because of Minus 8's samples of dialogue from old movies (in the original version of "Elysian Fields," the samples are from the first Bogart/Bacall scene in one of my favorite movies, The Big Sleep, but the 2007 version that was used during Under the Influence replaced the Big Sleep audio with dialogue from some old movie I've never seen and is most likely not as awesome as The Big Sleep). I wonder how the Under the Influence intro would have looked with "Yakety Sax" instead of "Elysian Fields." Alex, I think I'll go with "What is not-as-suave?"



4. "Reckoner" by Radiohead (Vanguard)
Any investigative journalism series that would open with Radiohead is tops in my book. For those who weren't aware of Current TV before Keith Olbermann joined the channel, it was best known for the compelling and sometimes difficult-to-watch documentary series Vanguard. Correspondents like Laura Ling, Mariana van Zeller and Adam Yamaguchi often put their lives at risk for the sake of the story. One such story, human trafficking in North Korea, brought international attention to Vanguard in 2009 when the North Korean government arrested Ling and her footage editor Euna Lee for trespassing while they were doing research for their piece. Ling and Lee were sentenced to a labor camp for 12 years--until Bill and Hillary Clinton intervened and ex-President Clinton successfully negotiated with Kim Jong Il for their release.

Though Vanguard no longer uses Radiohead's enigmatic and contemplative 2008 track "Reckoner," it's still an incredible program. The recent Vanguard installment "Sex, Lies & Cigarettes" is an intriguing examination of the tobacco industry's insidious marketing tactics in Third World countries like the Smoking Baby's home turf of Indonesia, although there's an angle that Vanguard overlooked: the connection between the tobacco industry's tactics and environmental racism.



Gnarls Barkley's equally terrific live cover of "Reckoner":



5. "Pheromone" by Prince (Video LP)
I remember coming home from school and turning on The Avengers on A&E and flipping over to BET's music video/interview program Video LP whenever Steed and Peel were interrupted by a commercial break. I went back and forth between enjoying young Diana Rigg's catsuited body and judo chops and enjoying Video LP host Madelyne Woods' legs, as well as the way she maintained her resolve in the face of inarticulate rappers and new jack musicians whom I realized I never wanted to hear speak in interviews.

I know some rappers fare well in an interview setting, but most of them don't, and as someone who digs their music, it's torturous to watch or hear. If you want to hear their opinions, just listen to their lyrics. Don't drag them to do a lengthy interview. They're lost without a breakbeat or a beatbox (or a bong). It's like when HBO tries to interview boxers after their fights. What do they expect them to say after 12 rounds? "The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain"? What's more likely to come out of their mouths is "Myeyzcudopngrb."

Back to Woods and Video LP. Woods left BET a long time ago but is still a reporter (and is actually on Twitter), and Video LP is largely forgotten, aside from a few YouTube clips and A Tribe Called Quest's "Electric Relaxation," in which Phife Dawg--one of those MCs who thrives in an interview setting--name-checked Woods ("Hon, you got the goods, like Madelyne Woods").

Video LP also bears the distinction of being the only TV show that contained theme music by Prince (he contributed to Video LP an instrumental version of "Pheromone," a song that later surfaced on his 1994 album Come). I bet Prince frowns upon scripted TV (even though he once made a guest appearance on Muppets Tonight), but I wish he'd contribute another TV theme because he's such a musical genius. It would probably sound like this (FF to 3:29):

Why I Won't Be Blogging Today

Readers with blogs, do you ever wake up in the morning and find the well has run dry -- you simply have nothing to blog about?

It rarely happens to me, but after more than a week's break, I'm finding it hard to get back into my morning habit.   It seems my blogging muscle has grown flabby, though after a week of hiking, my glutes are tauter than ever.

So I won't be blogging today and I hope you understand.

Plus, I barely did anything sewing-related yesterday.  We waited for Hurricane Irene to arrive, and when she didn't, proceeded to go on a long dog walk to see what damage she hadn't done: basically some clogged sewers (the waste-water type, not the garment-makers-suffering-constipation type), a few deep puddles, and scattered leaves.

Like I mentioned yesterday, Saturday was devoted primarily to straightening up, and I was caught by the decluttering bug once again.  There is still so much to declutter, friends!  One fortunate result is that, having cleaned off the top of my treadle table, which was buried under a pile of vintage patterns and dusty bills, I was able to reconnect with my Singer 66 (up top).  I hadn't been using her because the last time I tried, the summer heat had expanded her belt, and I wasn't in the mood to tighten it.

Yesterday I finally addressed this and it took all of ten minutes.  I opened up the staple that holds the belt closed, cut off roughly one quarter inch, created a new hole for the staple with a screw and, with a pair of pliers, refastened the staple, reattaching the two ends of the belt.  Easy!

She now sews as good as new -- or as good as old I should say.  I may use her to finish "Aunt Hilda,"  which really has to get done this week.



I had been using my Featherweight for this project, but as you may have noticed, the sewing machine table I was sewing atop (the one that came with my Kenmore 158.141), now supports The Big Purchase.



Good grief, I have a lot of sewing machines tables...and quite a few computers too.

The last week before Labor Day in the USA is a good one for finishing old projects and preparing for the new year.  I guess because I spent so many years in school, I still think of September as the start of the year.  Fall feels much more like a fresh beginning than the end of something.

Many of you are probably wondering how we could have taken our dogs out hiking where there were rattlesnakes.



This isn't the first time I have encountered snakes on a hike -- though they weren't actually on the trail this time, they were off canoodling somewhere at a safe distance and we'd never have noticed them if they hadn't been pointed out to us by some forest ranger types.

We do keep a look out for things like turkey vultures and other low-flying birds of prey that might be hungry for a late morning snack in the form of a bony chihuahua.  On the trails, we generally keep the dogs beside us and discourage them from running ahead too much.  I think Freddy could handle a rattlesnake; Willy, I'm not so sure about.  Anyway, luck was on our side and there were no unfortunate incidents.  Willy pooped on the living room rug once, but with a chihuahua, it's basically a pretzel nugget.

The biggest drama of the week was when I spilled red wine on the white -- white?! -- living room sofa.  We tried salt and Dawn and Fab, but finally went into town and bought some Tech stain remover at a local hardware store and, let me tell you readers, that stuff really works.  Another crisis averted but really, should a dog-friendly vacation cottage have white upholstery?  Fortunately, the cushion covers were removable.

Oh, before I forget -- we had cable, which is always a treat since we don't have TV here.  If I had regular access to that Turner Classic Movies channel, I'd do nothing but watch movies all day.  Am I the only one for whom a round-the-clock tribute to Conrad Veidt is something very exciting?

 

I also read a book, which I picked up at a local flea market:  Mervyn Leroy: Take One.  It's the 1974 autobiography (well, as told to...) of the famous director/producer whose films include The Wizard of Oz, Little Caesar, and Million Dollar Mermaid.  Absorbing if not particularly memorable.

Enough empty chatter!  I simply can't blog today.  I do intend to blog tomorrow, however, so please come back then.

In closing -- though we never really opened -- what do you do when the blogging muscle starts to go flabby?  Do you find that a low-carb diet helps or must one simply get back on the horse -- in looser boxers perhaps -- and write away?

All advice appreciated!

Happy Monday, everybody!

Home again -- and the big storm that wasn't

Friends, I'm back, and arguably better than ever.  So much to tell!

Our vacation, to historic Woodstock in the Catskill mountains, was great fun -- lots of hiking, cooking, and relaxing.  And so much beautiful fungus!









I much prefer a mountain vacation to a beach vacation, don't you?  None of that nasty sand...

We returned to the city only to have to prepare for Hurricane Irene.  Irene didn't live up to expectations, however, at least not in New York City.  Even the Vinyls were underwhelmed.   But she did motivate us to straighten up a bit, which we did pretty much all day yesterday.  I found many long-lost sewing notions, which is always nice.



Remember The Big Purchase?  It arrived!



It's very, very big, and makes me wonder how I could have managed with just a 13" laptop for the last four years.  One's eyes adapt, I guess.  All of a sudden I see pores I never knew I had and I'm not thrilled about it.

The iMac is great to watch movies on -- we don't own a TV.  Unfortunately, last night's DVD, the Connie Stevens-Troy Donahue epic, Susan Slade, is just as awful on the big computer screen as on the small.  Campy fun the first time, pure tedium the second.  (The library was closed, obviously.)

I haven't really thought about sewing; I'm saving that for tomorrow.  What's new in Sewing Land?  I'm relying on you for important updates.

What was your week like?  Any Irene-related devastation to share?

Happy Sunday, everybody!

More vacation pics here.

SceneAroundTown.... "The Real Love" Musical and Don McLean in Concert... Pasadena Civic Auditorium... "Club Culinaire of Southern California"... Sofitel.... HH(:

Stellar Voices, Story Telling and Music at "The Real Love", a Broadway style show based on a true story featuring Betty Buckley, Shirley Jones, Dick Van Patten, Joanna Ampil, Adam Pascal, Robert Torti, Daisy Egan, Cady Huffman, Filippa Giordano, Trent Kowalish, Faith Rivera, Kiril Kulish, Tom Schmid, Lynne Wintersteller plus many others celebrating Supreme Master Televison's 5th Anniversary. "The Real Love" is based on the poetry of Grand Master Ching Hai who endorses a vegan lifestyle and features beautiful original songs by Bill Conti, Al Kasha, Doug Katsaros, Don Pippin and David Shire and is directed by Chris Shelton. Kudos Michael Donovan for his great casting. Special guest artist Don McLean followed with a terrific concert performance. The show began with a special humorous introduction by vegan Cloris Leachman and was MC'd by Grant Aleksander, Kristin Bauer, Ed Begley, Jr., Elaine Hendrix and Hayley Marie Norman and concluded with a great vegetarian feast catered by Loving Hut and One Veg World at the Pasadena Civic Center... I enjoyed being interviewed for Supreme Master Television too... A Great Event... A few daze later I attended "Club Culinaire Boutique Trade Show" at Sofitel "Where Fine Food & Wine Meet". Though I did not try any of the wines the gourmet food was delicous and it was a terrific event. Photos are posted on Flickr www.flickr.com - search HarrisonHeldStarMedia and then check out photostream.... HH(:

Enjoy.... As always photos may be used by permission only.... Heldhm33@yahoo.com HH(:

TGIF... Have A Great Weekend Whatever U Do.... HH(:

That's the Attack the Block score that you're hearing on A Fistful of Soundtracks, bruv, believe it

(Photo source: Alex Pardee)

Back in March, I said, "Add The Chemical Brothers' richly written and often dance floor-friendly original score from the teenage assassin thriller Hanna to the list of awesome scores by electronica or rock musicians who never scored for film before." It's time to add another one.

Set in a rough South London neighborhood attacked by "gorilla wolf muthafuckas" from outer space, the British cult favorite Attack the Block is the best popcorn movie this summer. Beleedat. (Most American moviegoers still haven't heard of Attack the Block, but Screen Gems has been hoping to change that by expanding Attack the Block's release to six more cities last week.) One of the movie's most enjoyable elements is the original score, the first ever written by the British dance act Basement Jaxx, whose tunes have often popped up in advertising (my first exposure to Basement Jaxx was an early '00s Coke ad that featured a group of svelte campfire partiers and an isolated and not-as-svelte nerd dancing in the woods to the catchy "Red Alert," while "Do Your Thing" was all over Disney's ads for Ratatouille).

Basement Jaxx (a.k.a. Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe) co-composed the score with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World music editor Steven Price, and their score accomplishes well what it set out to do, which, according to Attack the Block writer/director Joe Cornish in the score album's liner notes, was "to do the things that film scores used to do. To be as exciting and escapist as a John Williams adventure, and as gritty and percussive as the great John Carpenter's electronic scores."

Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 theme is so beloved by beatmakers that its influence can be felt in many of their instrumentals, including Buxton, Ratcliffe and Price's cues in Attack the Block. Starting this week, my favorite Attack the Block cues attack three blocks on A Fistful of Soundtracks: "Assorted Fistful," "New Cue Revue" and "The Street." One of these selections that I've added to rotation is the bagpipes-filled, dubstep-style end title theme "The Ends."

Basement Jaxx - "The Ends" from "Attack The Block" by Basement Jaxx

Attack the Block is inventive sci-fi with a youth of color as the lead for a change, as well as an inspired critique of the demonization of the working class in the U.K. A one-time mugging victim who wanted to better understand his muggers and their lives instead of being resentful and fearful of them, Cornish takes working-class kids like Moses (John Boyega) and the bespectacled and brainy Jerome (Leeon Jones) (their mugging of Jodie Whittaker's nurse/neighbor character Sam at the start of the film was based on the incident Cornish experienced) and fleshes out those characters to prove the irrationality of demonizing the underclass.

"At the beginning of the film these kids are masked, they're hooded, you don't know how old they are, you have no sense of their humanity or identity and indeed, with their language, you're confused, you're alienated from them," said Cornish to RopeofSilicon. "Then the purpose of the story is to strip away all those barriers and to make you understand they're human beings. Not perfectly good, squeaky clean human beings, flawed human beings like all of us."

On Twitter, I've seen people say they refuse to give Attack the Block the time of day because its ads' imagery of South London "hoodies" violently defending their council estate from alien invaders either reminds them too much of the U.K. riots (which erupted a few weeks after the movie hit American theaters) or appears to condone those riots. They're inanely passing judgment on a movie they haven't seen. Attack the Block is hardly as one-dimensional as they think. It's a story about the consequences of thuggish behavior, whether it's the hoodies' mugging of Sam and Moses' killing of the alien at the start of the film or the looting that went down in the U.K. riots.

"People really suggested the riots in my home town were linked to the movie? Unbelievable," tweeted BBC journalist Ben Fell to an Attack the Block fan after he saw Twitterers denounce the movie before watching it.

To borrow the title and chorus of one of Basement Jaxx's biggest hits, I'd like to say to the haters, "Where's your head at?!"

Related links:
• "Too Much Madness to Explain in One Text: On the U.K. Riots and Attack the Block" [The Playlist]
• "'We're Not All Vile Thugs'" (an Attack the Block cast member blasts both the looters and the London police) [Daily Star]
• "Rap responds to the riots: 'They have to take us seriously'" [Guardian]

(Photo source: RopeofSilicon)

The style guide for A Fistful of Soundtracks: The Blog

(Photo source: BACKYard Woods Explorer)

• Titles of songs, album tracks, short stories, TV series episodes, DVD or Blu-ray featurettes and cable channel or radio station programming blocks are always contained within quotation marks. Example from July 29, 2011: The "Rome, Italian Style" block on A Fistful of Soundtracks airs Mondays through Thursdays from 11am to noon. (However, even though Adult Swim is still technically a Cartoon Network programming block, the name isn't contained within quotes because Adult Swim evolved from a single-night block to a larger entity that Nielsen officially recognized as distinct from Cartoon Network in 2005, much like what happened to Nickelodeon's Nick at Nite.)

• Occupations or descriptive adjectives and nouns that appear before people's names are never capitalized. Example: constant self-recycler James Horner.

• Terms like "Filipino American," "Asian American" or "African American," which some writers prefer to hyphenate, are not hyphenated.

• The interpunct that used to be part of the Frito-Lay product name "Chee·tos" is absent whenever Cheetos is mentioned because of Frito-Lay's current official spelling, which removed the interpunct. Example: Why the hell does John Malkovich look like a human Cheeto during Transformers: Dark of the Moon?

• Numbers from one to nine are spelled out. Numbers above nine are written as figures (10, 11, 12, etc.) but are spelled out whenever they're the first words in sentences.

• The movie title Se7en and the procedural title Numb3rs maintain their unique spelling even though it looks stup1d.

• If a person is a Jr. or Sr., there is no comma between the name and Jr. or Sr. Example from January 13, 2009: Downey Jr. never drops character until the commentary is over.

• An ellipsis indicates a hammy pause. Example: "Dammit, Bones... this girdle you gave me for... my birthday... is too... constricting."

• Titles of movies, TV series, radio programs, podcasts, books, comic book series, magazines and newspapers are always italicized.

• Cardassians are whores for fascism. Kardashians are whores for attention.

(Photo source: Overthinking It)

• Names of online magazines like Salon and Slate are italicized. Names of blogs like DISGRASIAN, Burnt Lumpia and MovieMorlocks are not italicized.

• A Corolla is a car I damaged while driving it when I was a teen. A Carolla is a racist douchebag whose ass will get damaged by a gang of Pinoy teens if he ever sets foot in Daly City.

• Names of races and nationalities like African, Latino and Filipino are capitalized, but racial adjectives like "black," "white" and "brown" are not.

• "Sit for Baines" is a Back to the Future prequel fanfic about teenage George McFly's bumbling attempts to get to better know his crush Lorraine Baines by babysitting her younger brothers. "Shit for brains" is Fox News whenever it refers to Common as a gangsta rapper.

• Though this is an American blog and the word "license" is always spelled with just one "c," the British spelling of the 007 movie title Licence to Kill is left unchanged.

• "Michele Bachmann" is spelled with just one glassy "i."

SceneAroundTown.... A Special Screening of Katia Louise's "Saving America's Horses".... AIDS Walk LA Red Carpet & Art Exhibition Fundraiser Event at Gus Harper Studios... A Special 10th Anniverary Screening of "Luminarias" at LATC.... HH(:

On The Red Carpet: Calamity Cate Crismani, Katia Louise, Nancy Stanley, Neda DeMayo and Harrison Held      Photo by Billy Bennight

Director/Producer Katia Louise talks with Daniel Ramos of the Apache, Eagle People and Thunderbird clan, a supporter of the film

The film's Michael Blake "Dances With Wolves" speaks with Daniel Ramos of the Apache, Eagle People and Thunderbird clan, a supporter of the film

Calamity Cate Crismani, Katia Louise and Neda DeMayo

Katia Louise and Michael Blake

I saw  Tatia Louise's documentary "Saving America's Horses - A Nation Betrayed" several months ago and greatly enjoyed it and endorsed it.  The film blows the lid of the abysmal and shocking horse slaughter industry and is a real eye opener.  The freshly tweaked filmed screened again at the Artivist Film Festival in Hollywood and I enjoyed it even more.  I urge all horse lovers, animal lovers and humanitarians to see it.  It is shocking and somewhat disturbing but worth watching.  It was great to see the film's team again - director/producer Tatia Louise, associate producer Nancy Stanley and line producer, camera operator Mario James and to share my comments with the media on the red carpet.  To learn more about this must see film go to http://www.savingamericashorses.org/  ....HH(:

Travis Kiro and Celebrity Host CC Perkinson

DIVA Cynthia Manley and guest

Nancy Ray, Norma Jean and Cynthia Manley.  Back row: Felecia Scott

Travis Kiro and guests

Celebrity Hosts Dr. Mark Valinsky and CC Perkinson

Mark Valinsky, the event's Estaban "Steven" Escobar and CC Perkinson

Artist Gus Harper in front of one of his beautiful paintings. - the studio is located at 11306 Venice Boulevard

Gus Harper and CC Perkinson

Tri London Bartenders LLC -  "service with style and class"

Dr. Mark Valinsky  and CC Perkinson were the celebrity hosts of this great AIDS Walk LA Red Carpet & Art Exhibition Fundraiser Event presented by Gus Harper and Tri London Bartenders at the beautiful Gus Harper Studios , 11306 Venice Boulevard.  Nice people, good food (catered by Tri London), beautiful paintings and tasty  beverages courtesy of Neuro Drinks.   Event producer Etsteban "Steven" Escobar's Diversity TV was on hand on the red carpet with CC Perkinson & Mark Valinsky interviewing.  Story continued below...  HH(:

"Luminarias" star Dyana Ortelli (in yellow and turquoise dress) with guests

Publicist Phil Sokoloff and guest Diana

The film's Sal Lopez and Dyana Ortelli

Raymond Cruz and Dyana Ortelli

Pepe Sernan, Dyana Ortelli, Robert Beltran, guest and Mike Gomez

Producer/Casting Director Mina Vasquez, guest, Evelina Fernandez and guest

"A Toast to Luminarias".... Caroline Baker and Harrison Held Photos Above: Angela Moya, Lupe Ontiveros, guest, Lupe Ontiveros and Mike Gomez

Roddi Catroreale, Pepe Sernan and Justin Price

Guest, Maria Richwine, Armando Ortega and wife Yolanda Snowball

Evelina Fernandez, Dianna Mann, Donald Baker and wife Caroline Baker

Robert Beltran arrives with family

I attended the premiere of "Luminarias" with my friend Yolanda Romersa so when I was pleased to be invited to the 10 year anniversary gala and screening held downtown at LATC the home of Latino Theater Company.  Like a fine wine, the film directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela and written by Evelina Fernandaz (she also stars in it and is terrific) was even better years later...  more poignant and thoughtful and so funny.  It's like the Latina version of "Sex In The City". I enjoyed meeting and talking with the film's co-star Dyana Ortelli who turns in a colorful, sexy and funny performance.  The movie was originally a play produced at the Latino Theater Company.  Before the screening we saw a preview of the drama  "Dementia" starring Sal Lopez which looks very good... lots of committed and talented people at this theater company....  More pictures soon online at www.sunshinemagazine2.blogspot.com...  HH(: