This ad singlehandedly made my ridiculous commute bearable:

They also have West Village Move, from the same photographer, which is convenient for me, since my pictures are always so blurry it just looks like I’m tweaking on PCP or something.

(My favorite part is that box on the top left that says “Feelings:” and then gives you room to write. HA!)

Because Halloween is only ten months away! Plus, let’s face it, I troll the costume sections of pattern companies like perverts troll the “I Love White Stockings” Flickr group.

This time, we’re tackling two takes on a French favorite; the robe a la francaise. (Insert your own squigglies, please.)

So, you’re going to make yourself a badass sacque-back. Good idea to start now! This gives you plenty of time to throw it into a closet out of frustration and sulk a month before you pull it out again. You can do this almost nine times and still have it finished in time for Halloween!

If Simplicity Patterns has its way, you’ll start with undergarments.

I am really proud of how far Simplicity has come with their costumes lately. I mean, that corset is not a prom-dress corset. That corset is Serious Business. (Plus, it’s awesome! Look at the hoisting action!) Also, you have to love a pattern where the notions include, like, eighteen feet of plastic tubing for the hoops.

Then, you make the dress.

Note that the back of the package says that along with satin/brocade/whatever for the dress, you should have “Bodice Lining in Linen. Ruffles in Silk Organza. Petticoat Lining in Crinoline.”

They line the bodice in linen, which is historically accurate (that shit had to breath, yo, and silk was expensive), and even though it’s a little stagey, you can see that the sacque back is appropriately shaped, the sleeves are beautifully fitted…plus, the bodice calls for a ton of hooks and eyes, so I think you slap this shit together via the stomacher, which would be about +10 points.

You know, it’s not quite living history (put those rosettes down, girlfriend), but they’re not messing around here, either. Even next to an actual dress of the era, it’s sort of close enough for government work, you know? (Especially if your dress fabric wasn’t quite as shiny and Vegas-blue.) I mean, the dress uses TWENTY YARDS of fabric. TWENTY YARDS.

McCall’s, a Simplicity rival, was not going to take this sitting down! They offer up their version:

…which is apparently for women who hate their smiling daughters. (What is up with that stinkface? Is it because she’s a copycat? Because that’s a fair beef. She stole that dress wholesale.)

(Or maybe it’s just the zipper up the back of the dress. Those itch like the dickens.)

This week’s recap of Eleventh Hour is up at Tor.com.

Now, usually I acknowledge that no one in their right mind would watch this show. I understand and applaud it, and I salute those of you who watch it, like I do, to laugh hysterically.

However, this week Rufus Sewell had to pretend he was tweaking on PCP, which means several things:

1. He loosed that googly eye something fierce.
2. He waved a chair around and screamed about how the universe is dying.
3. He slapped his own head like a high school production of Nell.

You guys, it’s amazing. Just trust me, and click on the link, and check out that clip. I have seen it at least four times, and it never stops being funny.

(This guy can actually act, you know! I’ve seen videotaped proof! Who knows what happened.)

New Watchmen Photos are up.

Largely spoiler-free take: This looks by far like the most faithful Alan Moore movie adaptation; not that I expect him to emerge from his lair and go see it, but I’m excited to see stills from a movie that looks like it took the graphic novel seriously. (I actually like V for Vendetta as a film [haters to the left!], but it’s like a second cousin of the graphic novel, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was like a guy at a frat party overheard someone in a back room explaining part of the premise and was like, “Holy crap, I am going to make the SHIT out of this movie!” So for me these pictures are very exciting.)

ETA: The comments have some minor spoilers.

I ended up watching League of Extraordinary Gentlemen on TV today. I know, I know, but as much as I want to escape it, that shit is hilarious, and it’s perfect for housecleaning; you can wander into another room for fifteen minutes and not miss any plot, since nothing makes any sense to begin with. It’s like Fun With Lobby Cards, only it moves!

However, the channel was doing a “DVD on TV” thing for some reason, and it included deleted scenes that don’t have any sound or effects finishing. I now feel great pity for all the actors involved; without hyper-cutting and big drumbeats and waily strings and sound effects, it is painfully clear that this movie was going to suck from moment one. The saddest moment was Mina and Dorian’s big fight “deleted scene,” where Peta Wilson and Stuart Townsend swirled their coats and half-heartedly traded lines. It was like a high school play with more pleather. It happened hours ago, and I am still sad, it was that bad.