Sean J. O'Rourke’s Neighborhood

Michael Jackson cupcakes. Arsenal cupcakes. Twitter cupcakes. Skull and crossbones cupcakes. Cupcakes with glitter and sprinkles and handmade ricepaper flowers. So many cupcakes!

 
Crumbs and Doilies make delightful iced cupcakes and they like to use MOO cards to spread the word. We caught up with them to find out how MiniCards and cupcakes are made for each other...

What made you decide to try MOO MiniCards?
We thought it seemed like a really fun idea! With the low minimum order we figured it was worth having some made up, just to see what they were like. Our cupcakes are very visual and part of their appeal is the uniqueness of each order - so having a way of printing lots of different designs in one print run was a very attractive prospect for us.

How do you use MOO cards to promote your cupcakes?
It's still quite early days as we only took receipt of our first delivery quite recently, but we're looking at including a few cards with each private order - like a fun and collectable freebie for people to keep and show their friends.

What do you consider to be the advantages of a MiniCard over a traditional sized business card?
They're smaller! It's a fun way of showing off some of our imagery in a unique and eye-catching way. There's also something about the colourful variety in miniature form that seemed to fit well with our mini-cupcakes.

You can now upload your own images for the front and back of the MiniCards - we see you've taken advantage of this in your designs...
Yes, we designed the 'back' image based on our company logo and 'sprinkles' design. We liked the fact we could use our full branding - the templates are great - but this works much better for us, as a small business. The cards are really cute, and likely to be kept, so featuring our branding loud and clear means the next time people want cupcakes, our details are there, used as a bookmark or pinned to the fridge.

Any plans to use MOO cards in other ways to promote your business?
We're thinking of punching a hole in a MiniCard and using it to secure a ribbon round a box of cupcakes. We've seen this a few times on Flickr, and it seems to work really well.

We've been really impressed with the quality and finish of the MOO printing, so we're definitely considering using more of MOO's custom products for special occasions. Christmas has only just finished but we're already planning for Valentine's Day!

Thanks for talking to us, Crumbs and Doilies!
If you're a cupcake fan, check out their Flickr stream too.

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Someone, somewhere, is stepping out onto the ice for the first time. Remember when you did something like that for the very first time? Were you filled with that mix of anxiety and excitment that comes from trying something new and different? It has been SO LONG since I have had that kind of thrill in my life. At a mere 47 years old, I'm starting to feel the weight of mediocrity pulling me to my grave. In this new year I'm going to try and SCARE MYSELF with the challenge of new things. I want do do new things, learn new things, maybe even become something different from what I am. If we NEVER take that first step, well NEVER get anywhere.

Someone, somewhere, is stepping onto the ice for the very first time. Today, I think I'm gonna put on a pair of skates and join them, too.

For some reason, I started listening to The Clash's London Calling today for the first time -- the whole way through, without stopping. After listening to one run-through, I thought to myself, "How have I gone my whole life without listening to this album?" It's incredible! The only Clash album I ever had growing up was Combat Rock, which was only purchased for "Rock the Casbah" (but not because of Will Smith's atrocious "Willennium" cop-out). 

I saw the VINTAGE AD BROWSER on neat-o-rama yesterday...  Worth the click if you like vintage ads.

NOT MY PHOTO: Found on vintageadbrowser.com

That's What I Like About The South

Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys

Fiction: The Comings of Cousin Ann by Emma Speed Sampson (1923).

Set in Kentucky in the early 1900s.  Cousin Ann is the family Matriarch and she's had to go "visiting" on all her kin ever since the end of the Civil War when the Plantation had been burned to the ground leaving her homeless.  Needless to say, her visits wear thin on the family after all of these years...  Enter Judith, the sweet, peppy girl from town.  Judy wins the hearts of the townsfolk and saves the day by saving the whole the Cousin Ann Family from themselves.

This was a phenomenal look into the Southern culture from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.  Outstanding book.  Emma Speed Sampson was such a good writer that she was even allowed to write under L. Frank Baum's pseudonym of Edith Van Dyne.

Non-Fiction: A Confederate Girl's Diary by Sarah Morgan Dawson (1913).

Transcriptions of the diaries of a young woman living in the South DURING the Civil War.  An engrossing read detailing what it was like to "live" in the South during Federal occupation and under constant fire.  I am only into August of 1862, and based on her writings I wish the South had won and I can see why Southerners are so proud and protective of their heritage.

Movies:

Judge Priest (1934).  Internet Archive: "Judge Priest depicting life in Kentucky after the Civil War and Reconstruction Period.  It still shows the stereotypes and prejudices which existed at that time in a somewhat humorous manner.  Based on a story by the noted Kentucky humorist, Irvin S. Cobb, it presents life as one would have imagined it at that time period."  I gave it 5 Stars *****.

It's a Joke, Son (1947).    "The first Eagle-Lion film stars Kenny Delmar as Senator Beauregard Claghorn, his "Allen's Alley" resident-character heard on Fred Allen's radio program. Claghorn was a blustery, one-man-Chamber-of-Commerce for all things Southern, who had no tolerence for anything north of the Mason-Dixon line, although he made allowances for South Philly. The character inspired the creation of one of the most popular of the Warners' cartoon characters, Foghorn Leghorn, who re-worked most of the originals material and style. The title of this movie is a stock line- "it's a joke, son"---he would feed a befuddled Fred Allen each week. In the film, Claghorn gets into some financial difficulties and is forced by a machine-political gang to enter a race for state senator against his wife (Una Merkel) who appears to have a good chance to beat the political hack backed by the machine. Claghorn is in to siphon votes and ensure his wife's opponent will win and is expected to run a campaign that will defeat himself and his wife. But, he runs to win and the machine's henchies abduct him." Written by Les Adams on IMDB.com.  I only gave this one 3 stars, I wish I could recall why - and I remember liking it quite well.  Oh well.

Hoosier Schoolmaster (1935).  After the Civil War, a young man takes a teaching job in a small Indiana town.  Another good look at everyday life at the end of the Civil War.  4 Stars.

There are lots of other Southern, Civil War and Reconstruction books on Gutenberg, and books/videos at the Internet Archive - as well as tons of general knowledge websites to visit.  Don't overlook Annenberg Media although every single video I tried to watch skipped awfully and there's always the beloved PBS.

In the past year, I rediscovered Steely Dan. I listened to them a lot as a kid and didn't get their sound. Now, as an adult, I fully appreciate them. I think I like them so much because of their storytelling, lyrics, and jazzy sound. They truly are distinct, unique from the likes of many 70's bands who all sound the same. 

For Christmas, I purchased Remember the Night for my mother after seeing it advertise on the TCM network. The film stars Barbara Stanwyck as a thief who spends the Christmas holiday with prosecuting attorney Fred MacMurray. I really loved this film. The storyline wasn't totally consumed by Christmas, and Stanwyck and MacMurray's performances really worked. A great romance with a surprising ending. 

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"I Get That A Lot" is a reality television special about celebrities who assume everyday working class jobs that airs on CBS. Hidden cameras are used to capture the celebrities on the job. When they are recognized they deny their real identities and say "I get that a lot".

The newest/2nd episode airs on CBS January 6, 2010 at 8:00 PM. Participants include KISS guitarist Gene Simmons working as a psychic guru, socialite Paris Hilton working as a gas station attendant, Big Brother and The Early Show host Julie Chen working at a yogurt shop, skater Tony Hawk working at a surf shop, hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg taking on the role as a parking lot attendant, and chef and talk show host Rachael Ray working at a dry cleaner.

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Other celebrities who appeared on the show include model Heidi Klum Samuel selling pizza, rapper and actor Ice-T selling shoes, singer and actress Jessica Simpson working as a computer technician, and Subway spokesman Jared Fogle working at a Subway restaurant

Some Short Segments of the show.

We The Free

It's Day 3 of 2010, Day 3 of the rest of our lives. For a lot of folks, me included, 2009 was a really rough road to travel. I personally could not remember a time in my life when I had lost so much, and felt so uncertain about the future. Well, that was then and this is NOW! I think that many people are embracing the sense of positive change that awaits us in this new decade. Today, I think that most of us just want to brush the dust off our shoulders and solider on to whatever challenges are right up that road. It's 2010, are you ready, willing, and able? I'm betting you are. I'm betting we all are.

As I get ready to go wander the streets of Chicago, on this 1 degree day with a -15 wind chill, I happy, HAPPY that I woke up in a place that still holds the hope of a better & brighter tomorrow for us all. We still have to deal with the realities of a weak economy, wars and rumors of war, the shadow of terrorism, and God only knows what else that might blindside us at 3:00am, but I think we can handle it. I am not only looking forward to what adventures this day holds for me, but also what lay behind Door No.2 on Tomorrow. I happy that I'm still alive and still free to realize the American Dream, however it may have changed over the last ten years. I'm gonna try and live my life as best I can, and try too be the best person I can be. I encourage everyone, EVERYONE I know to try and do something, anything, that will make their lives better in 2010 and beyond. Despite how things might look at times, and there will still be trials & tribulations to be faces, remember we CAN overcome them, and we WILL overcome them if we have to.

If you found yourself saying "We're in 2010, now what?" Well, I guess it's time you go find out what the Now What is gonna be. I'm gonna go take myself for a walk into Now What, now.

I compiled my list of favorite movies of 2009!