kqedscience:

Whole Foods Shows Customers the Bleak Future of Produce Without Bees

“The decline in bee populations has been all the buzz lately, which led Whole Foods Market to team up with the Xerces Society to show us what a world—or at least, produce section—without bees would look like. The University Heights, Rhode Island store removed all foods that are reliant upon the important pollinators, and it leaves a pretty slim selection; 52% of the produce department’s offerings would be pulled from shelves without bees around to help.”

(via inhabitat)

Actor/Writer/Comedian Fred Stoller Shares Stories Of Breaking Into Hollywood

You can find my podcast with Actor/Writer/Comedian Fred Stoller here.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of chatting with the very funny Fred Stoller (“Fred & Vinnie,” “Seinfeld,” “Friends,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,”“The Penguins of Madagascar,” “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”). Fred has guest starred on many a TV sitcom, so he’s probably found his way into your living room on numerous occasions. He’s a character actor who describes the characters he plays as usually “the guy who just misses or is off.” He also wrote on “Seinfeld,” and used that experience to write a Kindle Single called “My Seinfeld Year.” Fred also used his own life experiences as inspiration for the feature film “Fred and Vinnie,” which played at Slamdance and The Austin Film Festival. And now he also has a new book out entitled: “Maybe We’ll Have You Back: The Life Of A Perennial TV Guest Star.” Fred and I talk about everything from having Larry David ask to read his spec script to winning the Audience Award at The Austin Film Festival to having Dick Van Dyke follow him on Twitter.  

There is a book release party for Fred’s book “Maybe We’ll Have You Back: The Life Of A Perennial TV Guest Star” in Los Angeles on Thursday June 20 at Nerdmelt Theater.

 

FRED STOLLER’S BIO

As a stand-up comedian Fred was known for his dating woes, and his thrill-seeker persona. (I drank milk that expired yesterday!) He appeared on Late Night With David Letterman, The Tonight Show, and HBO’s Thirteenth Annual Young Comedian’s Special. 

Fred then guest starred on countless sitcoms, establishing himself as TV’s go-to nebbish: most notably as Ray Romano’s mopey cousin Gerard on Everybody Loves Raymond, Elaine’s forgetful date on Seinfeld, and Monica’s bossy co-worker on Friends. He’s appeared in the films Dumb and Dumber, Rebound and Little Man, among others. 

Fred & Vinnie, the indie feature he wrote and starred in, won the Audience award at The Austin Film Festival. 

Fred wrote for the animated series Handy Manny, where he also voiced the character Rusty The Wrench. He was a staff writer for Seinfeld and the author of Maybe We’ll Have You Back—The Life of a Perennial TV Guest Star published by Skyhorse Publishing. 

Fred’s been traveling to colleges, theater groups, and other venues telling stories from his book about his life and the acting world.

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Fun backstage photo at #Conan.

Comedian Deon Cole Shares Stories Of Breaking Into Hollywood

You can find my podcast with Comedian/Actor/Writer Deon Cole here.

In this episode, I have the immense pleasure of chatting with the very hilarious Deon Cole (“Deon Cole’s Black Box,” “Conan,” “Barbershop” 1st Amendment Standup,” “Def Comedy Jam”). You may have seen Deon performing standup all over the country or on TV. Or you’ve probably seen him in countless hilarious sketches on “Conan.” He was also recently the narrator of “Stories From The Road to Freedom” on the History Channel. And starting June 10, you can see Deon in his own brand new show “Deon Cole’s Black Box” on TBS. We talk about everything from his early days doing standup in Chicago to his love for “Star Wars” to touring with Def Jam.

DEON COLE’S BIO

Deon Cole is originally from the south side of Chicago.  Deon’s charismatic personality and original style make him one of the most popular performers in the comedy scene today.  As a standup, he has been featured on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, for Comedy Central he’s been featured on, John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show and Laffapalooza, Mash Ups and his own 1 / 2 Hour Special.  Deon has also been featured on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, BET’s Comic View, NBC’s Showtime at the Apollo, BBC’s The World Stands Up, Lopez Tonight, and STARZ’ Martin Lawrence’s First Amendment which he also hosted in 2010.  

Deon is also an actor, having appeared in MTV’s Short Circuitz and Wild N’ Out with Nick Cannon, as well as Barbershop 1 and 2.   Most recently, Deon was featured in FX’s The League.

After Deon’s 2009 standup appearance on The Tonight Show, he was offered a job as a staff writer for the show and made multiple appearances as a commentator and sketch performer on the show.  TV Guide declared, “A Star is Born” after Deon’s commentary pieces kept growing as a bit on the show.  In 2010, he was nominated for an EMMY and Writers Guild Award along with the other writers of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and he was named one of the “Top 10 Comedians to Watch” by VARIETY. 

Since then, Deon has continued with Conan as a writer/performer on Conan’s new show at TBS, aptly titled, CONAN.  In 2011, Deon received his second Emmy Nomination for his work with the writers of CONAN.  He also had the experience of a lifetime touring with and performing his standup on Conan O’Brien’s THE LEGALLY PROHIBITED FROM BEING FUNNY ON TELEVISION TOUR.

And now, Deon has his own show premiering in June 2013 on TBS called, DEON COLE’S BLACK BOX.  A video clip and social commentary show where Deon will offer up his unique views the weeks events.   Deon also was recently the narrator for The History Channel’s STORIES FROM THE ROAD TO FREEDOM, a documentary on the Civil Rights Movement.

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If while staying at the Four Seasons you forget what white people look like, here’s a statue to remind you.

oldloves:

Bill Murray on Gilda Radner:

“Gilda got married and went away. None of us saw her anymore. There was one good thing: Laraine had a party one night, a great party at her house. And I ended up being the disk jockey. She just had forty-fives, and not that many, so you really had to work the music end of it. There was a collection of like the funniest people in the world at this party. Somehow Sam Kinison sticks in my brain. The whole Monty Python group was there, most of us from the show, a lot of other funny people, and Gilda. Gilda showed up and she’d already had cancer and gone into remission and then had it again, I guess. Anyway she was slim. We hadn’t seen her in a long time. And she started doing, “I’ve got to go,” and she was just going to leave, and I was like, “Going to leave?” It felt like she was going to really leave forever.

So we started carrying her around, in a way that we could only do with her. We carried her up and down the stairs, around the house, repeatedly, for a long time, until I was exhausted. Then Danny did it for a while. Then I did it again. We just kept carrying her; we did it in teams. We kept carrying her around, but like upside down, every which way—over your shoulder and under your arm, carrying her like luggage. And that went on for more than an hour—maybe an hour and a half—just carrying her around and saying, “She’s leaving! This could be it! Now come on, this could be the last time we see her. Gilda’s leaving, and remember that she was very sick—hello?”

We worked all aspects of it, but it started with just, “She’s leaving, I don’t know if you’ve said good-bye to her.” And we said good-bye to the same people ten, twenty times, you know. 

And because these people were really funny, every person we’d drag her up to would just do like five minutes on her, with Gilda upside down in this sort of tortured position, which she absolutely loved. She was laughing so hard we could have lost her right then and there.

It was just one of the best parties I’ve ever been to in my life. I’ll always remember it. It was the last time I saw her.”

- from Live from New York: an Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live

Actress/Comedian/Youtube Star Angelina Spicer Shares Stories Of Breaking Into Hollywood

You can find my podcast with Actress/Comedian/Youtube Star Angelina Spicer here.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of chatting with actress/comedian/YouTube star Angelina Spicer, whose credits include: “Sketchy,” “Tosh.0,” “Electric Spoofaloo,” and “Conan.” You can see Angelina in the standup special “Standup & Deliver” on Jennifer Lopez’s new network NuvoTV on May 21 at 10pm. We talk about everything from doing a Tyra Banks impression to playing Snow Black to talking on the phone with Spike Lee as a kid.

ANGELINA SPICER’S BIO

A Brooklyn native, Angelina is the eldest daughter of hip-hop pioneer Jimmy Spicer. As a comedic actress, Angelina has built a substantial online presence with her portrayal of Tyra Banks, Beyonce and Nicki Minaj on the Disney’s Web series Electric Spoofaloo. Some of her work has been featured on The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Hollywood Reporter. As a Stand up Comedian, Angelina has performed at The Hollywood Improv, The World Famous Comedy Store, Gotham Comedy Club and won the Fresh Faces Stand Up competition at The Ha Ha Comedy Club. She’s appeared on VH1’s 40 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of the 90’s  and can be regularly seen The Yahoo sketch comedy series “Sketchy”, or playing a crazy mix of characters like “Mrs. Butterworth” or “Snow Black” on Conan. If you wanna see her outside of Youtube, or Twitter (@AngelinaSpicer) check her out  on “StandUp & Deliver” at 8pm on Jennifer Lopez’s new network NuvoTV. 

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Dan Brown has revealed how he cures writer’s block.

By hanging upside down.

[He] straps himself to a table in his home gym that rotates him into a position that lets blood — and, it seems, ideas — flow to his head.

Brown, 48, said: “It does help. You’ve just got to relax and let go.
“The more you do it, the more you let go. Then soon it’s just, “Wow”.’

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Dan Brown’s cure for writer’s block might seem kooky at first, but those who practice meditation know that headstands and other inversions significantly calm the nervous system and invite clarity of thought.

Complement with the daily routines and daily rituals of other famous writers, then see what some of today’s most exciting artists, writers, and designers do to break through their creative block.

(via explore-blog)

In honor of Mother’s Day, re-posting a favorite episode of “My Mom’s Movie Reviews.”

my-food-fantasies: