Happy New Year!

Let me start by saying "L'Shanah Tovah" to all my readers. May this be a happy and healthy New Year for you. Looking for a great Rosh Hashanah Menu? Check this out from Epicurious. I will now turn the service over to my good friend, Mr. Paul Shaffer. Paul...



Thanks very much Paul.


If you buy one thing today, make sure it's the new Ben Folds album, Way to Normal! I am super excited to pick up a copy of this album because an old friend of mine (well not old in age), Sam Smith, is the drummer and he's quite excellent. He's even on the cover of the album holding the umbrella. Pretty cool. Sam and I used to work at Columbia Pictures and Sam has impeccable taste when it comes to movies, music, and even politics :-). I will never forget the look on our faces when we walked into the Big Fish Premiere after party. Take a minute to go buy this album and I'm sure you won't regret it. Plus, now you are two degrees away from Sam. Thanks.

Another good reason not to try to be a hero and eat something "superhot".

Hey High Schoolers, want to get into the college of your dreams? Perhaps you should rethink your Facebook account.

I leave you with this video. No models. Everything is real.


Bathtub III from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Bruno is at it again!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Even though it was raining, I managed to get a lot done and have a great time at the "Better-late-than-never BBQ". The food was excellent, the company great and many guests took the wii mic to sing some karaoke favorite on the American Idol Wii game.

I have to laugh every time I hear that a musician has left an expensive instrument in the back of a taxi cab. It happened again last week.

Chile Lime Sweet Potatoes with Spinach Clove Yogurt...


I always love when Sacha Baron Cohen makes the news...this time there's even video of his crazy stunt.



Okay, busy Monday. Before I go, take a look at this. No Andrea, it's not Coney Island!

Paul Newman (1925-2008)

We will all miss Paul Newman the legendary actor, car racer, father, husband and brilliant philanthropist. I will always cherish the night I stood next to Mr. Newman at a performance of Spamalot. He had a certain glow about him.

Mama's Mint Chocolate Chip

Good morning on this very rainy Friday morning. I am really bummed that Mime week has come to an end. I've got to find a way to bring it back. Well, today's mime lesson is going to teach you how to read a newspaper. Be sure to try this on the subway and you'll be a superstar.

I am hoping to be able to test out my new video camera this weekend so that I can put something together to post on the blog. The camera is tiny and shoots in beautiful HD. One step closer to filming the pilot of Evantourage.

I started up my personal training sessions last night and it felt good. I have set a goal and am working towards it and everything is coming along very nicely. Speaking of gyms, did you know that Ghosts workout? Well they do.



Crazy news today:

Ice cream anyone? PETA is urging Ben and Jerry's to start using breast milk to make their ice cream. I know, I know, just think of the endless possibilities of new snappy ice cream names they could come up with...


And, another one bites the dust.


Here's one market in the city I won't be going to. Charging shoppers an "energy surcharge", please.


Have a great weekend! Oh, and before you go, check out Manohla Dargis' review of Nights of Rodanthe. It's the funniest review I have read in a long time.

"What Keeps You Safe, Or Maybe It's Who" Nights of Rodanthe, A Review

Today in mime class we are going to learn how to make sad emotions in mime . This is appropriate because last night I went to see a screening of Nights of Rodanthe. Here's a rough review I wrote on the bus ride home:

Having never read a Nicholas Sparks novel before nor seen one of the many film adaptations of his material, I really had no expectations walking into the theater last night for a screening of Nights In Rodanthe. I knew there would be romance and that it starred Richard Gere and Diane Lane. The story is actually much better than I thought it would be and Richard Gere is charming in the role of Dr. Paul Flanner. A man on a mission, Dr. Flanner hops into his shiny new sports car and heads to Rodanthe to stay at an inn right on the beach. Adrenne Willis, played by Diane Lane is dealing with her kids and her ex husband who wants her back. While her kids are away with their dad in Florida, Adrienne looks after the Inn for a friend of hers who owns it. Gere arrives at this Inn and Adrienne makes sure he is taken care of. These are two troubled souls who desperately need each others company.

We are told that there's a big storm coming. Is this really the best time to rid the cabinets of canned foods and throw it all away? We soon learn that a botched surgery has brought the doctor to town to apologize to the family who lost their mother under the knife. Pretty soon, Paul and Adrienne are making out and fighting a storm, both the storm outside and the storms in their lives. Paul wants to reconnect with his son who he hasn't spoken to in over a year, a task which Paul is able to accomplish in the end. Paul and Adrienne fall quickly in love, he discovers all the mountains and peaks of her body and assures her that the wild horses will one day ride on the beach. The couple grows closer and Paul realizes he must show remorse for the family who lost their mother while he was doing surgery to remove a growth on her face. It's a touching scene when Paul goes to speak with the Torrelson father and son. Families are brought together and emotions soar at a turn of events toward the end of this love story. The woman next to me was sobbing uncontrollably for the last half hour of the movie.

The scenery in this film is really beautiful, filmed on the beaches of North Carolina. I'm sure it's going to bring a lot of people to Rodanthe now. One of the things I am very sensitive about when I go see a film is the music. The music in this film really upped the cheese factor. It was too much. This along with Diane Lane's acting ruined the film for me. It felt like she was acting and I didn't really believe anything she said because of this. Her performance left a bad taste in my mouth although perhaps that had something to do with the popcorn. If this movie had been made differently it really could have been good. The story is pretty gripping.
There were a lot of people crying so if you decide to go see this film be sure to bring some tissues because you'll probably cry until the wild horses come home.



So did anyone happen to see the David Blaine special on TV last night? The Dive of Death? It was the most ridiculous thing I have seen. They kept on saying "well stay tuned, we don't know what's going to happen...anything could happen as David dives four stories to the ground". Okay sounds sort of interesting. I walked away and came back to see David Blaine jumping, attached to a bungee cord and then he started being pulled up and then the lights went out and apparently he was gone. I don't get it. I don't think the crowd got it. What was supposed to have happened? Did something go wrong? Was there a risk of death in this stunt? I'm confused.

So Johnny McCain canceled his appearance on Letterman last night and Letterman didn't seem too happy about it. This is priceless, Dave, just priceless.

All Mime All The Time

In yesterday's post, I linked to a video which showed you how to pick an apple in mime. I'd really like to see some of my readers try it so send in your videos and photos of you picking an apple. I thought I would continue with the mime series all this week and today try to find a video showing how to lean in mime. Didn't you always want to impress your friends with that one? Or how about the rubber pencil trick? Here's the leaning trick.

I'm not sure you wanted to know this much about the rubber pencil trick but oh well:


I think the professor needs to loosen up a bit.

I thought we already knew about Clay Aiken?

Word has it that Kanye is working on a new version of "The Muppets".

Some people at the gym were watching The Biggest Loser last night but did you know that Jesus was also a trainer?

Chill In The Air

It was definitely a bit chilly this morning and being that Fall officially commenced yesterday I guess a little chill is in order. Halloween is right around the corner and I'm excited. And while we're on the topic of excitement...Sex and The City is out on DVD today. So run out and grab a copy before it's too late and it's placed in the Disney vault.

As I type this, David Blaine hangs upside down in Central Park. I wonder if he's sleeping...

A little tidbit, the next time you travel, leave the grenade replica paperweights at home.

As promised yesterday, here are some more photos from the weekend. Now if you can't get to an apple orchard, I thought I would share with you how to pick an apple in mime.




















And the strange clip of the week: