Piggy Banks for George Mark Update

Hi all! Sorry I haven't been around last week very much. Work was crazy and I had a health thing that knocked me on my butt for a few days and made me feel miserable, but that's not say there aren't updates to be made. I finished some more jewelry items that I'm donating to George Mark House for their own silent auction taking place on October 2nd. I'll be posting pictures of those items some time this week so you can peep some of what might be in store for you if you donate to George Mark House and win!

Also, I might have another item to put on the Prizing list that I'm finalizing. I think, I hope, I don't know.

The awesome and wonderful Sars has made a decision on the bracelet she wants and I'll be getting that out the door this week, so I'll be updating the prize list to exclude that bracelet.

And lastly, I just got a donation yesterday, which puts the total for this fundraiser at $200! I'm so happy about this because that's two hundred bucks George Mark House wouldn't have had otherwise, it's two hundred bucks that will go a long way to helping children just like my son and families just like mine. But there's still more to be made, more to do.  You guys have to raise 800 more bucks to get me to do the truffle shuffle, but I think we can do it, so let's get 'er done! Get those donations in and e-mail me. You've got sixteen more days until the end! Get those piggy banks filled and cashed in! Whatever you can do to help! I'd appreciate it.

Did you get a receipt but you haven't e-mailed me yet? E-mail me at tyliagardner @ hotmial (dot) com. I'll try and put a direct e-mail link into the George Mark Fundraiser panel on the right. If that doesn't work, let me know in the comments and I'll try and work something out.

Thanks you guys. Keep it going.

Machete Don't Text

I may or may not do a full review of Machete later but none of that matters cause Machete Don't Text. I freaking love that and it has now become the best reason I have for not texting ever. Machete Don't Text, that's why.  In fact I think it's quite a handy little saying. In the pantheon of short pithy responses I think it sits right next to "Look at the Big Brain on Brad."

Dear Think Geek;

I've never asked you for anything, and you have track record of just giving and giving anyway, but if you'd make a shirt that says Machete Don't Text I would love you forever. It would be right up there with your Rule #2: Always Double Tap and Hello my name is Inigo Montoya T-shirts as the shirts I'd most covet ever. Thank you.

With much love, They Bloody Munchkin

Movie Reviews: Whip it and Where the Wild Things are

We interrupt your regularly scheduled George Mark House Fundraising  news for the following diverting post:

I finally got to see two movies that I had been dying to see when they were in theatres, but thanks to Ukiah's health issues, I just couldn't. Needless to say, due to the wait, I had built both up in my mind, and I have to say both lived up to my expectations, but in totally different ways.

First up, Whip it! I have to say, Drew Barrymore's directorial debut was much better than expected. In fact, I think I'll probably have an emotional attachment with this movie like I did with Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, where I can't delete it off the DVR and it somehow fulfills a need in me while watching it. It's that note perfect.

The characters felt lived in and note perfect and its the type of movie that you just want to climb into and get lost. And this by no way takes anything away from Page or Harden, but this movie belonged to everyone else really. I wanted to get to know each  of the side characters more. From Kristin Wiig's, character bad-ass mom by day, bad-ass roller derby chick by night, to God forgive me, to  Daniel Stern's push-over sports-obsessed dad. Which O.k., I loved that character more than a little bit because when his character showed up to the Roller Derby rink in a felt cowboy hat, it more than reminded me of my own dad who had a period of about a decade of wearing a cowboy hat everywhere and I can't not love that. And since I'm up, Daniel Stern needs to be in more things more often. He can't just show up in things like City Slickers and Little Monsters and be a constant fixture in my adolescent head, then disappear behind his Wonder Years narration then disappear altogether in my psyche to just resurface in Whip It.  That seems not right somehow.

Ahem, back to the characters As always, Ari Graynor makes the most with what little she's given and she's AWESOME. Alia Shawkat's character was sweet, and adorable, not afraid to raise a little ruckus but real afraid when the ruckus gets out of control. Rosa Sparks, Smashlee Simpson, Eva Desctruction, and Julliette Lewis's character. God I love her. I love every part about her. And I really don't know why I'm rambling on like this because Joe R. put it better than I could. Everything he says is how I feel. Loved it.

Onto the second movie, which was Where the Wild Things Are. This movie and the sense of meloncholy I felt afterward have a story attached to them that I feel needs explaining. So again, this was another one I wasn't able to watch in the theaters because of Ukiah's delicate medical condition, so I eagerly awaited it on cable. But in the meantime, Chris had bought the book Where the Wild Things Are and I read it to Ukiah quite often, using voices and getting into my own sense of character. The book and those times reading it to him have a special place in my heart. And then, when we lost him, those wonderful things went away.

That's why, when this movie's sense of childlike melancholy mixed with my own nostalgic melancholy, it completely destroyed me. Visually is was a jewel to behold and it was filled with the kind of wonders that childhood imagination holds. The awesome tunnels and forts and piles were perfectly childlike.  And then the sadness, that meloncholy that pervaded all the characters at the end. I couldn't help it. I cried. It was sparse storytelling that sold so much. Whatever execution faults that have been leveled at the movie, it doesn't matter, because the heart was absolutely there. Thank you Jonze, for that.

Oh,  Karen O god bless you.

Prizing Update

I've finally added some new prizes to the list and hope to add a few more within the next week. A wonderful friend of Tomato Nation donated a pair of knitted, beaded fingerless gloves which I'm very excited about and I made some bracelets for 7 very lucky winners, that look like this:

See all the new additions here in the prizing page.

George Mark House fact of the day #3

So, first thing's first. The total is up to 150! Great News!

Also, new prizes will be eminent, but I'm still finalizing a couple odds and ends, so I'm not sure exactly when I'll post, only that it'll be within the next week.

Onto the fact of the day.

Fact #3:


Rather than overcrowded hospitals, George Mark House holds a maximum of eight children at a time. Each child receives and his or her family receives  a great deal of attention from from both the staff and the volunteers. Each room has its own individual theme, with beautiful murals in each depicting different scenes. My son stayed in the Railroad Crossing room that had two murals of beautiful rolling hills with a train meandering through the scene. The rooms and the personalized care provided a perfect place for my son to get better without being intrusive. They provide a high level of care without being intrusive.

A New Way Home Screening Date!

A New Way Home finally got that screening date it deserves! October 4th, at 7:00 pm, at the Grandlake Theatre in Oakland, CA! If you're in the Bay Area, its well worth your time! Mark your calenders!

George Mark House fact of the day #2

I have some quick updates before I get started. First, I added a total counter to the side panel so we can all keep up with the donation total. Keep it glued to the Piggy Banks for George Mark panel for total updates.

Also, I have a few more prizes to add to the prizes list in the next week, so keep a locked here for prizing information.

Thirdly, the current total just doubled from $25 to $50 this morning!!!! Yeah!!! Keep those donation reciepts coming!!! Thanks to everyone who has donated and spread the word on this little drive so far!!!!

O.k., so without further ado, here's your little fact of the day about George Mark House.

Fact of the Day #2:

George Mark House offers a wide range of services to the children who come into its doors. They have an in house hydrotherapy pool as well as a fully licensed on-call hydro-therapist. They also have a child life specialist that provides fun, games, arts and crafts not only to the children but to their siblings as well. They offer a wide range of fun events to all the occupants that come in the door. And I'm talking a wide range of fun events. Therapy dogs, fireman, bunnies, traveling zoos, proms. They have it all. They actually had a camel on their campus! A camel! They once brought a mini pony into my son's room. Where else can a sick patient get to pet a mini pony? Nowhere else that I know of. So let's get those doors back open!

George Mark House fact of the day #1

Today marks the official start of this little contest of mine. I just want to take a moment and thank everyone whose participated so far. Right now, the official total stands at $25. If you want to make me do the truffle shuffle and FILM it (I mean, I do the truffle shuffle a lot, there's never been videotape proof though), we're shooting for 1,000, so get those jars going and scrounge that loose change!

In the mean time, I thought I'd post little facts and tidbits about George Mark House that make it great, unique and center worth your money and energy.

Fact #1

George Mark House is the only palliative pediatric care house in the nation that helps children with life-limiting illnesses. There are upwards of 40 houses like George Mark House in the U.K, but there's only one in the United States and that's George Mark House. And right now it's doors are closed, so the US doesn't even have that. We have a responsibility to kids like my son to ensure that they do have something like this available. Let's think of the kids.