Link-A-Palooza

It has been quite an exhausting week, so I am going to take a little bit of a break today from Red Carpet Closet and share a few links with you.  I will be back tomorrow with a few great finds from the gifting suites during Oscars Week.

The Academy Award winning designs by Rick Baker for The Wolfman.

1. Starpulse:  Check out my article on the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Symposium that was held at The Academy last week.  All of the nominees in the Makeup category were there including famed Makeup Designer Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London, Thriller).  See how they are competing with CGI in their field and how Anthony Hopkins "helped" the makeup artists on the set of The Wolfman.

2. Cathy Baron:  She's a talented actress and rising jewelry designer with an amazing Steampunk line.  I've worn her pieces on the red carpet here and she is featured on another great blog called Stuff She Likes. The photos of Cathy's pieces on this site will have your credit card flipping in your wallet.

3. LonsTV:  Lon Harris was a guest on my show, The Web Files, back in December of 2009. I was thrilled that he mentioned my show in one of his recent episodes.  Thanks, Lon.  I hope to bring The Web Files back sometime this year.



Three Random Photos to Ponder:

Shhhh, don't tell Wolfgang Puck, but my chocolate Oscar was stale.

This dress looked terrible on camera, but it was stunning in person and NO ONE else could have worn it but Cate Blanchett.

His movies are twisted, but I have a secret crush on Darren Aronofsky--porn 'stache and all. 

All Photos are Property of Red Carpet Closet.  May not be published without permission.

It's Giveaway Time!

I know we just finished the Emmys Event Gift Bag yesterday, but I was lucky enough to receive two complimentary tickets to the upcoming "Enchantment Under the Web" Prom that is happening here in LA on September 22nd from 8PM-12AM.  So, two free tickets means it is GIVEAWAY time!

The prom will be hosted by Lon Harris of This Week In with live music by Shaimus and the live stream of the night will be hosted by me. (And I am hoping to get the uber-busy Judalina Neira on-camera for a few minutes to co-host with me.) No prom is complete without a Prom King/Queen and their court, so take a look at the Class of 2010 nominees:
The Ladies:
Cooper Harris
Shanrah Wakefield
iJustine
Zadi Diaz

Olga Kay            
Julia Allison

The Gents:
Mark Gantt
Benny & Rafi Fine
Maxwell Glick
Shane Dawson
Andre Blacknerd

I will have the opportunity to interview them all.  Andre has asked that I don't make him cry like Barbara Walters (or Gil Duldulao) and I know Cooper is searching all over town for the perfect dress.  It's going to be a memorable night and a charitable night because all of the proceeds from the evening benefits the LA non-profit, Our House, a grief support services organization.

Just a reminder, this event is 21+ and it is in Los Angeles.  I cannot provide transportation to Southern California for you, so remember you are on your own for transportation/accommodations, but I am happy to dance with you.  Tickets are worth $30 each, so your prize package totals $60 which leaves more money in your bank account to buy a dress!

Here's how to enter:  Tell me your favorite prom memory in the comments section below.  Comments will be open between now and Wednesday, September 15th at 11:59PM PST.  The winner will be decided by Random.org and announced here on Red Carpet Closet on Thursday, September 16th at 9:00AM PST.  The winner will be able to pick up their tickets at the door the night of the event.

Good luck and I can't wait to see all of you on September 22nd!

If you aren't feeling lucky today, you can purchase tickets to the event here.

Behind the Scenes of This Week in YouTube

This was one of the most difficult episodes to schedule. If it wasn't my schedule crimping the shoot day, it was Shira Lazar's nutty schedule. It was hard to figure out when the two of us would be in town at the same time to shoot. It went from an August to a September to an October shoot. The calendar gods finally aligned and we hit the Mahalo Studios in Santa Monica on October 22nd.....the same day that I left for a job in Miami. (I told you it was tough to schedule.) Actually, my work life looks tame compared to the woman with a million jobs, Shira Lazar. She is one of the hardest working, savviest, and nicest hosts in the industry. Shira and I have crossed paths a few times, but we had never officially been introduced. Everyone kept tell me how fun and kind she is. You know what? They were right.

Now, I cannot forget about Lon Harris. I met Lon at the GeekOut event in May of 2009. That event certainly brought a lot of interviews for The Web Files. We met Tay Zonday, who was our first guest EVER on the show along with Brett Register of The Crew, which became our 2nd episode. So, one event netted three interviews along the way, guess it speaks volumes for power of networking. I find Lon to be sweet and funny all at once. He is the veteran host of This Week in YouTube and it is his steady presence and writing talent that helps drive the viewership of the show.

We were able to check out a taping of an episode which happened to be their first shoot using an TelePrompter. As any host knows, this is always a welcome sight since it takes half of the time to shoot versus memorization. They banged out the script and then sat down with us for an interview. You can definitely see why the show works as Shira and Lon have an easy natural chemistry off screen which carries over on screen. Lon also gave away some strong trade secrets on how to get hits on the saturated YouTube site. He is a master at drawing them in, so make sure to watch the interview!

Off-screen, Shira was really excited that we had brought our makeup artist, Melissa Anchondo to set with us that day since Mahalo does not use an artist for TWIYT. If you like Shira's hair and makeup in the episode, tell Melissa, it is all of her artistry. Also, Mahalo has a chef on the premise. How cool is that? I find that to be a very Google-like office perk.

Finally, I love my dress from Roni B. worn in this episode. Roni even let me borrow the shoes since I didn't have a pair to match. Thanks, Roni! Makeup provided by e.l.f. Don't forget to check out the episode below! Thanks for watching.....

Notice anyone hanging out in the background of this photo? The best set dog ever....Indiana!