Sweet and sour gifts for Valentine's Day
Whether your heart is filled with fuzzy feelings of love or blood-curdling rage, these two gift sites show it’s the thought that counts.
For your sweetheart: If it’s true that the best gifts come in small packages, then perhaps the same goes for love letters: The shortest notes are the sweetest. With “secret message soap,” such sentiments are also the best-smelling. At sayitinsoap.com, customers can order a soap that contains a personal one-to-two sentence message for their special someone. They can also customize the soap’s scent (coconut citrus and clove bud are among the options) and the gift packaging. It all averages out at about $10.
For yourself: Even if you don’t believe in Valentine’s Day, the made-up Hallmark holiday can sting like battery acid if you’ve just been dumped. What better way to deal with your rage/heartache/misery than to get a little justice? On exboyfriendjewelry.com, you can sell the gifts the loser gave you to collect cash for newer, shinier, prettier things that you can buy for yourself -- you being the one person who’ll never let you down. Even better, in order to post your unwanted items -- be it designer purses, earrings, engagement rings, wedding gowns, guitars -- you must include a brief story about the item. For example, this post for a Prada bag: “My ex was a big fake who liked to give me big, fake stuff (that I found out after we broke up) like purses, jewelry, shoes. He’s out of my life for good! I wonder if he knows I ‘faked; it??? Enjoy!” Or there’s this one attached to a listing for a Coach handbag: “He was cheating on me and left me for her because he got her pregnant. I want all of the stuff he gave me out, now!!!!”
-- Alexandra Le Tellier
For when you care enough to send the very best: SVU Valentine's Day cards
If you find yourself looking for unusual Valentine's Day cards, look no further, because pop culture-obsessed artist Brandon Bird has come up with what are probably the most unusual valentines you are likely to find -- ever! Yup, the kitschmeister supreme responsible for the classic painting "No One Wants to Play Sega with Harrison Ford" has done it again with: SVU Valentine's Day cards, or, as Brandon prefers, "Saint Victims Unit" cards.
Nuthin' says lovin' like a DNA specimen jar or a spiteful Fred Thompson scowl, are you with me? And what's more, there are high-res versions you can download and print out yourself that are 100% free on his blog.
-- Richard Metzger
P.S.: When you visit his website, do not miss the "Letters to Walken" section documenting an art project of Bird's that saw schoolchildren writing their annual Christmas letters to ... Christopher Walken.
Image credit: Brandon Bird
Free Mondays at LACMA: celebrate MLK day with some culture!
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! No, you can't go to the post office, but you can head to LACMA today for free admission courtesy of Target (thanks, Target!). Wander by the contemporary art pieces, past Greek earthenware and ancient textiles and then saunter through the sculpture gardens. There's also a new exhibit on Indian comic book art and a special performance by Sadubas, described as a "a musical convergence of turntables, tabla, and North Indian instrumental elements." Another option: just get in free and nap on the lawn. We won't judge.
LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles; noon-8p.m.; free
--Alie Ward
Photo of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from American Stock/Getty Images
'Once in a blue moon' this New Year's Eve!
Let's take this as a celestial sign of a better decade to come, shall we? This New Year's Eve, there will be a blue moon in the sky. No, not literally blue; the term "blue moon" actually refers to when there are two full moons in a given calendar month, an astronomical rarity that occurs just seven times every 19 years, hence the famous phrase "once in a blue moon."
What's more, this New Year's Eve, people living in the Far East will see a lunar eclipse, making this an even rarer...er rarity. A blue-moon eclipse only happens once roughly every 15 to 20 years.
Though we prefer to view this as a portent of good things to come (they can't get any worse, can they?), some believe that a full moon -- not to mention a blue one -- can cause strong emotions to flare. Some evidence shows that arrests for petty crime and public drunkenness increase 5% during a full moon, and police expect extra aggressiveness and antisocial behavior from revelers whenever a full moon occurs during a holiday.
-- Richard Metzger
Photo: December's first full moon, as seen from Phoenix. Credit: Rob Schumacher / Associated Press
Battle of the network yule logs
According to Variety, this Christmas two local TV stations will be going toe to toe, duking it out in the holiday yule log ratings sweepstakes. It used to be that KCAL's four-hour yule log was the only game in town, but KTLA's video fireplace will be giving it some direct competition this year. The difference is that KCAL's soundtrack will be traditional Christmas carols, while KTLA's feed will feature classic rock.
The yule log tradition began in New York City in 1966 when WPIX station manager Fred Thrower realized that most NYC apartment dwellers lacked a fireplace. The original yule log hearth was broadcast from the mayor's domicile, Gracie Mansion.
-- Richard Metzger
Tracking Santa in 3-D with NORAD and Google Earth
This year the by-now-traditional NORAD tracking of Santa's whereabouts has been subcontracted, apparently, to Google Earth, where you can track Mr. Claus, his reindeer and elves in 3-D!
The story of how the whole "NORAD tracks Santa" thing came about is actually pretty interesting: It was all a mistake.
From Wikipedia:
In 1956, a Colorado Springs-based Sears store ran an advertisement encouraging people to call Santa Claus on a special kind of telephone hotline. Due to a printing error, the phone number that was printed for the hotline was actually for Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD). Then-Colonel Harry Shoup received the first call on Christmas Eve of 1955, from a six-year old boy who began reciting his Christmas list. Shoup didn't find the call funny, but after asking the mother of the second caller what was happening, then realizing the mistake that had occurred, he told his staff to give Santa's position to any child who called in.
Santa's location at press time: Kulob, Tajikistan.
-- Richard Metzger
L.A. County Holiday Celebration at the Chandler Pavilion
You're not at the mall, having a panic attack at JC Penney? Congratulations. Rather, spend your Christmas Eve at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where the 50th anniversary of the L.A. County Holiday Celebration will be taking place. With better offerings than the wise men, the marathon six-hour show offers a Taiko project's hybrid of Japanese drumming and hip-hop, an ensemble of hand bell performers, a tabernacle choir, street dance and a group of singers donning their finest Gay Men's Chorus apparel. Of the merriment, the flier boldly announces that "it's all free," unlike the ravaged sale rack of novelty electronics at Brookstone.
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A.; 3-9 p.m.; free
--Alie Ward
A photograph from the L.A. County Holiday Celebration at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in 1964, with choir and orchestra, courtesy of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission
Bob Dylan's new Christmas video "Must Be Santa"
Watching the video for Bob Dylan's "Must Be Santa" from his new "Christmas in the Heart" album, I must confess that my first reaction was "Who let the weird old guy into the party?"
I didn't really have a second reaction to it.
Tell us what you think, in the comments.
--Richard Metzger
'Bad Santa' 21+ screening at the ArcLight
There are few films that can stain a person's brain like 2003's "Bad Santa." Billy Bob Thornton's corrupt and irascible Santa is one thing, but add to it graphic sex scenes and lines that we couldn't even begin to censor with asterisks, and you've got a film that lodges deep in the cerebellum as a guilty Christmas pleasure. See Thornton's huge teeth and ashy face in their big screen glory at the ArcLight's 21-and-older screening where, just like Santa, you can swill hooch with impunity. It goes without saying, but leave the children, and your morally sensitive friends, at home.
ArcLight Hollywood, 6360 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood; 8 p.m.; $13
--Alie Ward
Photo from "Bad Santa" by Tracy Bennett/courtesy Miramax Films
Chanukah menorah lighting ceremony at SM Promenade this evening
--Alie Ward
(Note: The world record dreidel spin will take place on Sunday, rather than Friday, as appeared in print. We got our menorah lights mixed up.)
Photo: Joshua Neydavood holds a candle in honor of the first night of Chanukah with his sister and father Sunday, December 21 at Chabad of Brentwood's celebration, Dec. 21, 2008. Credit: Spencer Weiner/Los Angeles Times
