Discounted Kiehl's Monday, August 1st!

If you're a fan of Kiehl's, then you know that they do not offer discounts very often.  In my several years of being familiar with the company, I've gotten a discount exactly once.  That was last Christmas. 

Tomorrow (Monday, August 1st) you can visit a free-standing Kiehl's store to receive 15% off your purchase* in conjunction with their LifeRide for amfAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research.  They are also donating $5 for every visitor to the store tomorrow--up to $100,00!.

If anyone wants anything, let me know.  For real.  I'm going to pop over after work and pick up a new face wash that I've been sampling.  It's great for summer, which seems to last from May to November here.  :)  I hope you're enjoying your weekend.

*excludes gift cards and limited-edition charity products

Check out The Final Scene of Captain America

Thoughts?

Battleship - Official Trailer [HD]

Johns two cents: I have a feeling Rihanna will ruin this. thoughts?

The Amazing Spider Man

Thoughts?

Tower Heist Trailer Online

Thoughts?

John's DVD Pick of the week (July 26th 2011)

Hey guys sorry for the two day delay. Technical problems happened and this week my pick may be overrated but its still better than anything I saw it's.

 

Source Code

That's right the Duncan Jones directed film is my pick of the week. The other pick is the dramatic thriller Trust.

My vintage pick is in honor of this weeks release of Cowboys And Aliens I'm recommending a handful of action/adventure films that were done by the cast and crew, they are Casino Royale, Iron Man, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and Tron: Legacy. All four are worth a watch.

I Zigged.

I framed another little piece of somethin' somethin' recently.  This one came from Linda & Harriett's sale!  The frame came from Wal-Mart (for about $9-ish), and I scored this awesome piece of paper for about a buckaroo.  It's one-of-a-kind, aesthetically pleasing to me, and totally replaceable, in case it can't handle the steam.  (It's in the bathroom.)

Again, I apologize for the lack of great lighting.  I tried it with the flash, and things went from ehh to ugh.  And I had to do a wonky angle so you didn't just see a splotchy reflection of me on a Sunday afternoon.

Still Poppin!

My Poppin order came in yesterday!  Stoked is not even the word for it.  The box itself made my day.  You can click on the pictures for larger versions. 

I got the signature green ballpoint pens, black wood pencils, erasers, navy notebook, and silver clips.  What?!  I have so many pens now that I've already started sharing with co-workers because I just couldn't keep the goodness to myself.

Another thing I like about this site is that they offer many supplies in lots of different colors.  I think their main reason is so their business customers can cost-effectively develop a branding identity with a certain color of supplies--which is cool.  But how about the idea of a color-coded gift bag for a child's birthday party or showcasing multiple rulers or push pins in a single color in a glass jar?

John's DVD Pick of the week (July 19th 2011)

Hey guys it's Tuesday again therefore its time for my weekly dvd column. This week made me choose by flipping a coin it's

 

Limitless

That's right the Bradley Cooper thriller is my pick for the week. The other big release is the Topher Grace dramedy Take Me Home Tonight.

My vintage pick is: In honor of this week's release of Friends With Benefits I'm recommending Will Gluck's previous film Easy A, it may not be anything special but it's still worth a watch.

Anchors A'cheap!

Whilst perusing my local Target over the weekend, I ended up in the kitchen/dining section, which is not at all unusual.  However, this time I stumbled upon this nice glass trifle bowl from Anchor Hocking.  Immediately I pictured it above my kitchen cabinets.  Or maybe on top of a bookcase.  Or filled with delicious figgy pudding.  Ok.  Not figgy.

Then I looked at the price tag.  $10.50.  What?!  I knew that I had seen similar pieces at Crate & Barrel for way more--and not nearly as nice of a shape. 

Exhibit A:

The Miranda.  It is a cool shape, but it is also three times the price of the Anchor Hocking piece.

Exhibit B:

The Charleston.  It's fifty dollars.  That is 5-0.  And it's glass--no platinum or rims or anything.

Granted, the one I bought is not pristine, in the sense that you can see a seam here and there, but turn the thing around!  Sheesh.  I think this would be a great way to display flowers, seashells, potpourri (if you're into that), Christmas ornaments, etc.  You can't beat the design or the price.  With this brand, you know it will last a long time.  Mine will probably just remain a stylish space-filler above mostly empty cabinets for now, but it has tons of potential.

The Dark Knight Rises - Official Teaser Trailer [HD]

Thoughts?

The final Friends With Benefits Trailer

John's two cents: I'm seeing it on Thursday. Thoughts?

My Desktop is Poppin'...My Desktop is Cool

Today I caught up on the blog Design Darling and was most pleased to be introduced to the office supply company called Poppin.  This site has just about everything--pens, clips, laptop bags, and notebooks.  And everything is reasonably priced!  There's an emphasis on color and wit, which are excellent talking points.

Most people at my job don't pay any attention to what's on my desk (except for the chocolate), but that's ok.  I feel that office supplies are things you should buy solely for yourself.  And when you can pick up a bundle of cool pens for less than $1 each?  Yes.

 It won't be long before I'm placing an order.  That is for sure. 

The Pirates! Band of Misfits Trailer

John's two cents: Nice to see Aardman going back to clay. Thoughts?

Behold the trailer for The Thing

Thoughts?

John Carter Trailer is revealed

Thoughts?

Hugo Trailer is here

John's two cents: It will be a hit or miss for Scorsese. Thoughts?

The Trailer for Contagion

Edward Norton in talks for Bourne Legacy

 

Via comingsoon.net

Casting on Universal Pictures' The Bourne Legacy, starring Jeremy Renner with Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) helming, seems to be moving forward with Variety reporting that actor Edward Norton is in talks to play the movie's main villain. Norton has played a villain before, most notably in Paramount's heist thriller The Italian Job. They also seem to be confirming that Rachel Weisz will be the female lead in the movie, previously reported as being in talks. We wonder what her new husband Daniel "James Bond" Craig feels about that.

John's two cents: Not bad casting thoughts?

Behold the trailer for Sherlock Holmes : A Game of Shadows

Thoughts?

Poster Round Up

Thoughts?

John's DVD Pick of the week (July 12th 2011)

Hey guys it's Tuesday again and therefore it's time for my dvd pick of the week. This week we had a surprising and shocking film from this year its.

Insidious

That's right the indie horror film is my choice for the week. Other films out this week are The courtroom drama The Lincoln Lawyer, the animated flick Rango and the Russell Brand remake of Arthur, the last two don't come out until Friday.

My vintage pick is: In honor of this week's release of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 I recommend that you have a marathon of the first seven movies even if you are not a megafan of the franchise.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES POSTER IS HERE!!!!

Thoughts?

Blog Much?

A few semi-recent posts on blogs that I regularly read and admire have gotten me to thinking about blogging in general.

Why blog?  What's the point?  How do you classify blogs?

I have to say that Specs Appeal is, admittedly, somewhat random musings.  I started it back when I was still living at home, finishing up grad school.  Oddly enough, I had much more time then to blog and to read other blogs than I do now.  I had tried to post every day, or at least every other day.  Now it's more like once or twice a week.

I mostly blog when the inspiration strikes, and if you have been reading my posts for very long, you know that you're likely to see book reviews, things that I'm lusting over, or my latest trophy.  It started with this title of Specs Appeal because my friend Joe Y. said that phrase to me a long time ago, and it just cracked me up.  Now I sort of operate with the idea of what appeals to me through my own specs.

Blogging for me is fun, and I'm constantly looking for things to post, being careful not to copy/paste the same things that make the rounds everywhere else.  If I do post something, it's because I think it's either valuable or funny or informative or some combination of these things.

And my opinion of ads on blogs is not very positive.  That's why you probably won't see any here.  Well, that, and my blog is rather small.  Scratch that.  We'll say intimate.  Yes, intimate.  That is why I do appreciate every visitor, follower, and comment.  Thanks for your support.

Which blogs do you regularly visit?  What are your thoughts on blogs?  Life in general?  Puppies?

Review: Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (**)

Transformers Dark of the Moon is the third installment in Michael Bay’s film series. It takes place a few years after the last film where Sam (Shia Labouf) is living jobless with his girlfriend Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whitely). She manages to get Sam a job in a mailroom. Bumblebee is working for the government and has a crappy old car. Carly’s boss (Patrick Dempsey) gives her a brand new nice car, but it isn’t what you expected.

The movie started good but went downhill when they destructed Chicago. Josh Duhamel, Tyrese, and John Turturro reprise their roles from the first two movies, new additions to the cast include John Malkovich as Sam’s boss, Frances McDormand as a CIA worker, and Ken Jeong of The Hangover fame as a worker for Sam’s company.

Review: Cars 2 (***)

Cars 2 is Disney/Pixar’s new film. It takes place a couple of years after for the first one, and Lightning Mcqueen (voice of Owen Wilson) won his third Piston Cup and plans to spend some time with Mater (Voice of Larry The Cable Guy). While relaxing at a bar a World Grand Prix would be going on Lighting chooses to compete in the competition. There are three races one in Japan, one in Italy, and the final one in England. During the first race Mater working for Lightning’s pit crew is targeted by a spy agency Finn Mcmissle (voice of Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (voice of Emily Mortimer). They reveal that Mater is a spy therefore leaves Lightning’s crew.

In the end this movie was good however this was Pixar’s worst. But the filmmakers should not beat themselves up over this because everyone is entitled to a bad movie.

Await Your Reply

It seems that I've been on a roll with some fairly good books lately.  And this one is certainly no exception.

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon is really hard to classify.  It's fiction, yes.  But it really seems like so much more.  And I realize how hokey that sounds.

This is a story of twin brothers (check!) and identity theft (un-check!), but it's engrossing from the very first page.  Each chapter focuses on different characters and the intrepid dynamics between them.  The story definitely has some twists and turns, and it made me think about things in this modern world that had not yet crossed my mind.  I pulled a few references from my banking days, and I made other connections just from being an American consumer. 

And this Dan Chaon knows how to turn a phrase, let me tell yaz.  Every page was rife with lush imagery and plain ol' addictive storytelling.  Example from page 65:

Nebraska was even worse than Ohio--if such a thing were possible.  There was a soundlessness about this place, she thought, though sometimes the wind made the glass in the windowpanes hum, the wind running in a long exhaled stream through the weeds and dust and dry bed of the lake, and sometimes unexpectedly there would be a very startling sonic boom over the house as a military plane broke the sound barrier, and there was the rattle of the grasshoppers leaping from one weed to the next--

But mostly it was silence, a kind of end-of-the-world hush, and you could feel the sky sealing over you like the glass around a snow globe.

Review : Super 8 (***1/2)

 

Super 8 is the new movie from director J.J. Abrams, and Executive Producer Steven Spielberg. It’s about Joe (Joel Courtney) who lives with his widowed father (Kyle Chandler). His father wants him to hang out with normal kids instead of making monster movies with his friends Charles (Riley Griffiths), Alice (Elle Fanning), Cary (Ryan Lee), Martin (Gabriel Basso), and Preston (Zach Mills). One night they are shooting the movie at an abandoned  train station where a pick up truck and the train collide. They realize that there is an alien in one of the carboxes, the military is notified and evacuations are underway, the kids on the other hand try to find and defeat this thing.

              Overall there are twists and turns in this film some you may not even expect. Super 8 is nothing like ET but is still a great film. I recommend it.