The Office Time Machine

Whoa, this is nuts: Joe Sabia spent the last year and a half creating The Office Time Machine, in which he has organized all the cultural references in The Office by year. For example, above is 1995, and below is 2011...
Look up any year you'd like. It's so addicting!

P.S. How to tell a joke, and Seinfeld reruns.

(Via the always awesome Kottke)

A Birder's Guide to Everything

Our friend Rob Meyer spent the good part of the past five years working on his first feature-length film, A Birder's Guide to Everything, and it officially opens tomorrow. We are so thrilled for him! (We're going to this 7:20pm show, if any of you guys are in the mood to see a great movie. Come join!) Here's the trailer...
Below, Rob answers five questions about the ups and downs of making the movie...Read More >

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Last weekend, we saw The Grand Budapest Hotel and absolutely loved it. There were a few moments when I even forgot we were in a movie theater. I would suddenly snap out of my reverie and realize, Oh, right, I'm surrounded by people—not actually in the movie.

The characters had real warmth and depth (unlike the affected characters in some of his other movies), and I adored how it was a love story of sorts between a man and his protégé. Have you seen it? What did you think? I don't want to give to much away, but I thought I'd share these cool gifs...
P.S. Wes Anderson is obsessed with centering. And my favorite movie of last year.

Jimmy Fallon and Jon Hamm photobomb people

Have you seen this Tonight Show prank? Jimmy Fallon and Jon Hamm photobombed tourists on the Top of the Rock. Made me laugh out loud...
P.S. How not to look like a tourist, and a When Harry Met Sally prank.

Lupita's natural beauty secret

How talented and gracious is Lupita Nyong'o? I just love everything about her. She seems so warm and down-to-earth. I'd love to hang out with her, wouldn't you? And if we did hang out, after we ate dinner and talked about hopes and fears and dreams, we would do what all good friends do...play around with makeup.

She actually shared her tip for flawless skin with Racked: "I use a lot of natural oils—like avocado oil and Hawaiian kukui oil—and try to drink lots of water. I think your skin really needs to be nourished from the inside rather than outside, so eating right and drinking water really goes a long way. I'm very low-maintenance." (Now I want to douse myself with oils every night before bed.)
Plus, a few more photos, just because I love her...Lupita, keep doing what you're doing!! xoxo

P.S. Another natural beauty trick.

Marking the distance

Have you seen this beautiful animated short about a woman who lost her short-term memory after an accident? It's incredible. StoryCorps does such beautiful things.

P.S. Remember this romantic one?

Who's your celebrity crush?

The website Reddit sometimes hosts famous people for an hour and lets readers ask them anything. So far, Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Murray were great, and yesterday George Clooney showed up. And he was hilarious.

I loved Esquire's recent description of him:

He is fifty-two years old. He is wearing a black hoodie zipped to the neck, blue jeans, and boots laced so assertively they squeak when he flexes his ankles. He has a long neck, upon which his long head, adorned by long ears, wobbles like a tulip. Everything is to scale with him. Many people have long eyelashes; he has lashes as long on the bottom as they are on the top. His eyes look like they’ve been caught by Venus flytraps. He is going gray, yes, but if you took a population sample of his hair, there is no doubt that any analysis would reveal that the numbers of black and gray hairs are evenly distributed and have achieved equipoise. He has recently showered, and a careful modicum of product lifts his hair off his forehead. He has surprisingly fine hands. He smells like soap.

Clooney also plays pranks on his friends—he once hired a tailor to secretly take in the waistline of Matt Damon's pants by an eighth of an inch every few days. But for some reason, although every woman I know has a crush on Clooney, and while I'd love to be friends with him, I've never found him that attractive. (I think maybe he's just too cool; I like dorky side to my men:)

So I'm curious: Who's your celebrity crush these days? Clooney? It's one of life's important questions, of course.

P.S. My celebrity crush, and a trick for dating older people.

(Photo by Martin Schoeller)

Have a beautiful weekend.

What are you up to this weekend? Last night we saw the incredible movie Her. Have you seen it yet? The color palette was exquisite—everything was dusty pink, orange or red—and the story was so compelling. (As the NYTimes review said, she's just a voice, "but oh what a voice.") We really loved it. Also, thanks for all your fun comments this week—it's so nice to be back! Hope you have a good weekend, and here are a few great posts from around the web...

Kate Middleton is just as awkward as the rest of us.

This twitter account made me laugh.

LOVE the color of these boots.

What it's like to be a contestant on The Bachelor. (Answer: Crazy.)

Are you Type A? I'm busted.

What a gorgeous dress from the Golden Globes.

Seinfeld and George were spotted at Tom's restaurant!

Kids winning at hide and seek.

(And why children cover their eyes when hiding.)

The prettiest pink lips.

My mom gave me this book for Christmas and I'm excited to dive in.

If you want to keep your New Year's Resolutions, rephrase them as a question.

What it's like to be a parent, according to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Directors reveal: The toughest scene I wrote.

A few people asked about how to handle winter blues. Here are seven ideas, and apparently taking Vitamin D really helps too!

(Images from the movie Her, via Diana)

The psychology behind The Bachelor

My aunt Lulu is visiting this week (we're all ecstatic!) and of course on Monday night we drank wine and watched The Bachelor. She was totally into it, but kept saying, "Who are these poor women? Why would they put themselves through this?" And I remembered this fascinating New York Times article by Andrea Seigel about the psychology behind the reality TV shows, including the Bachelor...

*****

Just as “Survivor” isn’t really about enduring life on a deserted beach, “The Bachelor” isn’t really about dating or marriage. It pretends to be about romance by using props like red roses and satin evening wear and shimmering-wet driveways so that it looks as if the mansion just got hit by a John-Cusack-movie rain, but it’s really about science — which you might even think of as the opposite of romance, especially if you aren’t a scientist. In fact, if “Survivor” is about being unable to escape who you really are when you’re dropped into uncomfortable conditions, then I would say that “The Bachelor” is about forgetting who you really are when everybody around you gets lost in the same overpowering fiction. The show is this generation’s Stanford Prison Experiment.

“The Bachelor” is the prison guard, and his potential fiancées are the inmates. I’m not suggesting that the dynamic is inherently abusive, although it can be—this past season, Bachelor Ben would shut down any woman who expressed fear of his rejection, which was especially weird, seeing as how he was rejected himself during the previous “Bachelorette” season while down on bended knee.

From the first night of the season, the producers keep the alcohol flowing, and the contestants stay awake until it’s nearly sunrise, working hard to get the attention of one person. One person who has generally been pretty lackluster. With every new season, people complain that “The Bachelor” has proved to be a terrible model for building lasting relationships, which is like complaining that politicians are just trying to win votes. The show could improve its track record only by setting out to make matches between S.-and-M. partners.

I’ve always believed that if you’re truly in love with someone, you shouldn’t be able to answer the question “What do you love about him?” with any kind of real satisfaction. The things you’re able to articulate should leave you at least a little hollow. Contestants on “The Bachelor” will usually have to answer this question for his family, and there will be the usual adjectives like “kind” and “generous” and “funny.” It’s not that I think anyone is intentionally lying, but that they’re describing traits that belong to the set of circumstances more than the person. “The Bachelor” is kind because he has no reason not to be; if he becomes disillusioned with you, he can just send you home. He’s generous because he has a production team purchasing intense, expensive experiences for your dates. He’s funny because you’ve both been flown to a charming village in Switzerland and a funny little cow wandered up behind your picnic. If you want to insist that the show is about falling in love, then it’s more accurate to say it’s about falling in love with being on vacation.

I became especially fascinated with the 13th season of the show, when Jason Mesnick first proposed to Melissa in the finale, then decided that he was really in love with the runner-up, Molly, by the time of the update special. What happened with Melissa during those six weeks of engagement? “The conversations, which were so great on the show, were completely different,” Jason tried to explain. What I think he was really saying was, So we went to a movie in a normal theater. With other people around us. With bad popcorn. Walking out of the theater, she said, “That’s my new favorite movie!” I thought to myself, Really? That movie? And in that moment, I realized that was going to be our whole lives.

*****

Read the full article here, if you'd like. And the women are't even allowed to watch TV or read books; their only escape from the house is to go on a date with the bachelor, right? Talk about losing perspective! Do you watch the show?

A brutally honest NYC tourism ad

I love New York, but it can be loud, dirty and gross. This NYC tourism ad written by comedian Daniel Hubbard made me laugh out loud.

P.S. 9 crazy things about NYC.

(Via Mashable)

Party tip: Roaring fire on a TV

We went to our friend's holiday party last weekend, and, although he doesn't have a fireplace in his small apartment, he had a roaring fire on his TV. Apparently, it's a netflix video. Genius!

(Wouldn't it be awesome to pair with a a fireplace-scented candle?)

P.S. How to help your guests relax and how to give a high five.

Ballet is tough.

Have you guys heard of city.ballet? It's a twelve-part online documentary series about New York City Ballet, narrated by Sarah Jessica Parker. Each episode is about 6 minutes, and I watched them all in one blast last night. You hear from apprentices who are trying desperately to get into the company, corps de ballet members who are hoping to stand out, soloists who feel stuck in the ranks and principals feeling all eyes upon them. It's inspiring and fascinating, and another example of how it's hard to make something look easy.
(A bunch of little ones auditioning for the school! Those little bellies!)

P.S. Toby taking ballet.

(Photos of the School of American Ballet auditions by Greg Gilbert/Seattle Times and Jason DeCrow)

When Harry Met Sally prank

Improv Everywhere just pulled a hilarious stunt: They sent twenty women to Katz's Deli to reenact the famous orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally. Check this out...Read More >

A fourth grader's documentary about school lunch

Have you guys heard about Yuck, the documentary about school lunches written and directed by a fourth grader? Zachary is the brave filmmaker who goes undercover to reveal the truth about the gross meals at his NYC elementary school. He's hilarious, adorable (love his polo shirt and gelled hair!) and totally intrepid ("I could get in big trouble for this," he says, while sneaking his mini HD camera into the cafeteria). He has a big future ahead of him!

Here's the trailer, below, and you can watch the full 20-minute documentary online here.

P.S. 20 favorite documentaries, and cooking with toddlers.

Her

I've been such an old lady lately and keep complaining that they don't make movies like they used to. But the new Spike Jones movie—about a man (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with his computer—looks really weird and great. The release date is November 20th. Will you see it?

(Via Kottke)

Auditions for The Office

Wow! This old video shows a bunch of celebrities auditioning for roles in The Office back in 2003. Can you imagine Seth Rogen as Dwight?!

Also, here's an awesome interview with John Krasinski about his nerve-wracking audition for the part of Jim. He seems so sweet and humble.
P.S. The 101 best written TV series.

(Via Mashable)

Famous cars

These etsy posters feature iconic cars from classic movies. Double thumbs up.

P.S. The Shining still gives me chills.

(Via Fast Company)