Back in the 1970s, there was a British sitcom called Good Neighbours, starring Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal as Tom and Barbara Good, names which mean exactly nothing to American audiences. Anyway – the premise of the series was that one day the Goods have had enough with their fast-paced, rat race, pollution-creating, junk food-eating, and costly life and decide to go the hippy-dippy sustainable route. They decide to dig up their lawn and put in a garden, raise animals, and use natural, home-made products, all to the horror of their social climbing neighbors, the Leadbetters. It’s light and silly a la a Three’s Company episode. The goals of the Goods probably sound a bit like some of the lefty-ish people in your life today, as sustainability and eco-friendly living has become quite a bit more trendy than it was in the ’70s. The original sitcom is certainly worth checking out, but so is a modern spin-off of the show, a short reality series from the UK called Giles and Sue Live The Good Life, which informs about environmentally friendly, urban homesteading life – and pokes a bit of fun at it too. Read More
TV
Love Boardwalk Empire? Get The Look At Vintage Lighting and Fan Shoppe
I’m a sucker for period pieces. Jane Austen films? I own them all. Mad Men? I’m obsessed. Happy Days? Aaayyyyy. (That’s my Fonze impression.) It should therefore be no surprise that I’m all over HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, a show set in Atlantic City during the prohibition era. It’s a semi-fictionalized glance into the world of the speakeasy, “classic” mobsters, and flapper dresses. The second season has recently started and we’re again treated to the show’s most enticing eye candy of all: Steve Buscemi sets decorated to exacting detail with the look of the time – the transitional period between art nouveau and art deco. If you oggle the fixtures during the show and ask yourself, “why don’t they make beautiful things like that anymore?” I’ve got a website you’re going to love. Read More