Follow Pat on Tumblr!

Have you heard about this newfangled Tumblr thing that all the kids are talking about? Well we're getting on the bandwagon and set up our own tumblr, too! Follow us!

To get into the tumbling spirit I made some animated gifs! Move over, cool kids!


Look, it's Carol!


Impersonating Lisa's last ANTM photo


From "Likes or Yikes?"


Yikes!


Dazzling 3D effects
Are you on Tumblr, too? What's your username? Leave a comment!

Britney Spears' "I Wanna Go" Gets 'Hunger Games' Parody

This is by no means new, but somehow I just found it a few days ago. As someone who is moderately obsessed with The Hunger Games (the Capitol assigned me as a factory worker in District 8!) I love this parody music video set to "I Wanna Go" by Britney Spears.

In the clip Gale and Peeta battle it out in an attempt to woo the story's heroine Katniss Everdeen. Check it out:



Here's the lyrics, in case you are curious:

Get Mesmerized by Slow-Motion Slinky and Water Balloon

If you read this blog regularly you know that I'm a huge fan of anything put in slow-motion (like a cupcake cannon for example), so when I was poking around on CBSNews.com's The Feed I was happy to find two new clips for me to creepily enjoy while watching alone.

The first clip shows up what happens when you drop a slinky not down a flight of stairs, but straight down. The slow-motion action is very interesting. Check it out:


The second clip is far less scientific, but still very entertaining to watch. Check out what happens when you throw a water balloon in someone's face and it fails to pop.


I hope your life was improved by watching these clips. You're welcome.

Not Sure How to Say a Word? Let Pronunciation Book Help

We all know that YouTube is composed of 95% cat videos, 4% of random crap from users (like vlogs about ANTM, for example) and about 1% actual helpful information.

A few weeks ago when shooting one a segment for Likes or Yikes? I needed to know how to pronounce the designer Lanvin. I thought I knew how to say it, but I couldn't get anyone in the office around me to confirm that I was correct. After some quick research online my coworker, Michele, stumbled upon the YouTube channel Pronunciation Book, which gives simple, spoken pronunciations for common words that may be a little confusing to say. Luckily for me, Lanvin was one of the words!


Were you saying it correctly? I mean, do you ever actually need to say this word aloud in your everyday life?

Four of the top six most-viewed videos on the channel are beauty/fashion related that may be tricky to the English-speaking individual, like Givenchy, L'Occitane and Hermes. Also up at the top is the berry acai, and the name of pop star Ke$ha, whose dollar sign may confuse those learning English for the first time (or anyone with a brain.)

But speaker, beware! There is also a spoof channel out there called Pronunciation Manual which gives incorrect -- albeit humorous -- pronunciations of commonly misspoken words. Try Onomatopoeia for example:


Rude.

Pat and Jacki Play 'Likes or Yikes?' with Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman

iVillage.com's Pat Sandora and Jacki Garfinkel talk with Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman from NBC's Parks and Recreation about the show's new season, Amy rushing the stage at the Emmys, their celebrity couple names and Nick's fine mustache.

Later, they dish on Brad Pitt standing up for Jennifer Aniston -- and Angelina Jolie. Plus, Scarlett Johansson's rumored relationship with actor Kieran Culkin.

Chime in on the week's hottest entertainment stories with iVillage's Pat Sandora and Jacki Garfinkel at iVillage.com/LikesorYikes

'The Hunger Games' Capitol Gets Its Own Site

This could be the most exciting non-event to happen in the The Hunger Games hype yet!


Yesterday a mysterious website dedicated to the series' menacing dictator district The Capitol popped up online. Some details from EW.com:

A new website — presumably operated by Lionsgate (who has not responded to EW’s queries regarding the site) and fictionally operated by the novel’s evil Capitol — allows users to randomly register in a Panem district.

It also offers a “Countdown to the 74th Hunger Games” that, conveniently enough, take place on March 23, 2012, the day of the Gary Ross-helmed release, and a “Capitol Announcements” news ticker that informs users of gems like, “Reminder: Communication with Avoxes is strictly forbidden. Loose lips attract a peacekeeper’s whip!”

Another offering from the Capitol’s website: The number of tesserae — i.e. food credits that enter tributes into the Hunger Games raffle — claimed by each district.

I connected through Facebook and am still awaiting my registration approval have been assigned as a factory worker in District 8. Check out my ID badge...


Not sure what is to come from The Capitol site, but I am very excited to start receiving transmissions from President Snow!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about then you need to read The Hunger Games immediately!

Vote! Which Warby Parker Frames Should I Get?

I almost always wear contact lenses, but I am a secret four-eyes at heart. I've been sporting glasses since I was 8 years old (here's the awesome yearbook photo to prove it!) so when I heard about Warby Parker's home try-on program I signed up as fast as my fingers could type!

The way that it works is simple. You go to WarbyParker.com, shop their great frames, pick five that you love and Warby Parker will mail them to you free of charge to try on at home. You get five days to test drive and then you send 'em back in the prepaid box and purchase the ones that suit you best.

I picked out my five frames and received them a few days later. So, why not the readers decide which ones I should get? Keep reading after the jump to see the frames on my mug and let me know which ones to pick out.

Kids React to the eHarmony Cat Lover

Again, I have to say that "Kids React To..." is one of my favorite video series, and I'm actually really mad at myself or not coming up with the idea myself!

In the latest edition, kids give their very honest opinions to the cat-loving girl's eHarmony video bio. Check it out:



Obviously my favorite girl, 6-year-old Morgan, gave the best line, "For God's sake! No one would cry about cats!"

Beyond the clear crazy cat lady comments, the kids all had interesting opinions on what online dating really means. They give such gems as "It's a site where a bunch of creeps go to meet each other." People only online date because "They're too lazy." And several of the kids said people who look for online are "desperate.' Ya, give it a few years, kiddos.

My favorite line was from 11-year-old Everhet. When asked "What could she have done to make a better video?" He said, "She could have not talked about cats!" Indeed, Everhet.

200 Things Grace Helbig Learned from the Internet

One of my favorite YouTubers of all time is Grace Helbig of DailyGrace, who posts a new video every day about topcs ranging from anything to everything. She's made clips about beauty and style tips, random observations on society and even interviewed other YouTubers (check out Pat and Carolyn's cameo!)

To celebrate the upload of her 200th daily video (you go, girl!) Grace shared the 200 things that she has learned from the Web. Enjoy!


Some of my personal favorites are:

#20 - People only look at their own face when they video chat
#23 - It's not a viral video, it's an ad campaign
#99 - Why don't keyboards have a .com button?
#113 - Just because you use Instagram doesn't mean you're a real photographer
#121 - Lindsay Lohan is so sad

What have you learned from the Internet? Leave a comment!

Kids React to Lady Gaga

I seriously want to be friends with all of the kids in the Kids React to Viral Videos series. They're so opinionated and funny!

Take a look at one of the latest clips of kids from ages six to 14 watching Lady Gaga on The Late Show with David Letterman and listen to their honest reacts to what they just watched.


I love listening to the kids' gut reactions to Gaga, her music and her antics. I love that they all seem to actually like her, but be mostly aware of her "gimmicks" as they say. Plus, can you spot the one little boy that is just a little too informed about Lady Gaga and her career? I have a feeling that I may see him out a bar one day... if you know what I mean.

How to Turn Your Regular Spending Habits into Free Travel

By Eric Puglisi, Contributing Writer

My boyfriend and I will be going to be taking a trip to Europe in the near future. We will be flying (first class, mind you) to Paris and either Barcelona or Rome. In Paris we will be staying two nights at one of the best hotels in the city, with the highest amenities. Did I mention that this will be free? It might sound too good to be true, but it's not.

Welcome to the game of frequent flyer miles and points. A game, if played right, that can lead to upgrades and free trips. It takes some research but can be very fun along the way.


About eight months ago, I took a look at our finances and realized that we were using our debit card all the time and getting nothing for it. With no credit card debt, we decided to look into getting a credit card that could finally give us some rewards. So I took a hard look at what kind of cards and reward programs were offered for airlines. Little did I know what I would find.

We both signed up for a CitiCard American Airlines credit card that was offering a 75,000 mile bonus to apply by only spending $1500 in 3 months. By using my credit card for every purchase -- and I mean every purchase -- I was able to easily reach this limit. And then poof! I instantly had enough miles for three free round trip tickets to anywhere in the US, and was well on my way to a free overseas flight. It's a great strategy, but if you're going to try it make sure that you are able to pay off the entire balance each month so you don’t earn interest. My Hyatt Card gave me two free nights at any Hyatt in the world and instant platinum status.

Did you know that you can get miles and hotel points for almost anything? I do all of my online shopping through my favorite airline or hotel’s shopping site. I cancelled and resigned up for Netflix to get a 4000 mile bonus. My boyfriend and I even will pick restaurants that offer five miles per dollar spent through a special dining site. The possibilities are endless!

Watch Pat Sandora and Niecy Nash in iVillage.com's 'Likes or Yikes?'

Every Friday my amazing co-host, Jacki Garfinkel, and I give our take on the week's hottest entertainment stories in iVillage.com's Likes or Yikes? series.

This week we were joined by the amazing Niecy Nash, who stopped by to give the likes and yikes about her upcoming special Niecy Nash's Wedding Bash premiering Saturday June 4 at 8pm on TLC. Check it out!


You can get more celeb news and photos at iVillage.com/LikesorYikes.

Hey, @Twitter, Get It Together!

By Kara Klenk, Contributing Writer

Twitter is certainly a busy bee these days. It’s a celebrity publicist, it’s aided national revolutions, and it's helped link victims of natural disasters to the outside world. It’s also a pretty sh#*ty website. OK, put the iPhone down. I’m sorry if I’m offending the Tweeters out there, but before you begin composing a 140-character bitch slap, hear me out.

Twitter Is Over Capacity
No one can tell me you haven’t seen this little guy once or twenty:


It’s the Twitter Fail Whale! When is he getting a Nick Jr. show? Fail Whale is bailed out once again by his flying friends after a perfume launch proves more than he can handle! Tune in to Episode 1: The Kardashian Konundrum, Mondays @ 5am! I’ve got plenty more preschool show pitches, but let’s stay on track.

For a while, I was a rare tweeter. 2 or 3 times a month I’d log on to the site and blast an inane thought or joke into the abyss, but it wasn’t really having a profound effect on my life or how I communicate, like say Facebook or Menupages. Still, even my infrequent usage was fraught with appearances by this G-D whale! Really? Over capacity? YouTube has 48 hours of video uploaded every minute and 3 billion hits a day. Meanwhile, a few million people exchange simple text blurts and Twitter sh#*s the bed?

No Tweet Results for Kara Klenk
(Chandler Bing cadence) Could Twitter’s search function be any lazier? I am the only Kara Klenk (if Google is to be trusted) in the world and if someone searches me, even if that person follows me or we have a ton of followers in common, if they misspell one letter of my name, Twitter does not return correct, or sometimes any, search results.

Formatting + Retweets = Twitterversal Harmony
Twitter does not allow even basic formatting so text cannot be even bolded or italicized. Which could be useful for communication, but also could solve another problem: Cryptic retweets. Sometimes they look like the wall scribbling from A Beautiful Mind, ie: RT @lilsuckface456 OMG no U didn’t! @maggieluvsbieber der wuz a thing 2day @tubetopinchurch WTF its going down.

What in Jersey Shore’s name is happening here? Who said what originally and who is responding? It’s something a little formatting could easily clear up. (BTW I hope I invented these handles but if any of them are real #FF ASAP.)

Create Digital Sand Art with "This Is Sand"

Sometimes I think I should rename this blog "A Blog About Things That Will Get You Fired" because I come across some of the most addicting and time-consuming sites on the web. I love sharing games and quizzes with my readers (especially ones that drive me crazy), but I just found another one that lets your create your very own sand art! Remember sand art?!


ThisIsSand.com turns your computer screen into your very own fancy glass jar so you can let your creative sand imagination run wild! Check out some of the user-create pieces:


I'm sorry if you had a seizure while viewing these. I couldn't post my own art because it takes 5 million years to actually finish a piece, so you should be impressed with these people who actually had the time and devotion to complete one!

Reader Jae has sent me his creation! Check it out:


Click here to send me yours!

Sorry if you get fired for spending all day on sand art!

Pilates in Heels: Where Fashion Meets Fitness

As a fan of America's Next Top Model I've seen some pretty wild photo shoots over the past 16 cycles of the show. Photographers have set up the girls in shoots involving landfills, statues and even some big ass sheep, but I have yet to see a shoot quite like this one.


Adrian Rand Photography, the talent behind the shots, worked with fashion and beauty bloggers Ariston Anderson of Luxist and Bryce Gruber of The Luxury Spot who created the concept and eventually served as the models for the shoot. (You may remember Gruber from the last season of Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker.)

Truthfully, the ladies probably aren't going to get much of a workout in those sky-high heels, but that's not the point. The photographer says the idea behind the shoot was simply to illustrate powerful women that are able to do whatever they want with style. I'd say, "mission accomplished."

Take a look a some more shots from the "pilates in heels" shoot (click to enlarge):

Artist Showcases Miniature People in a Big World

A while back I posted a story on these awesome miniature iPhone scenes, so naturally when I saw more mini-scenes on Some Kinda Blog I had to share them, too!

This latest round of minis -- aptly called The Little People Project -- comes from an artist named Slinkachu, who has been creating his tiny scenes since 2006. The best of his work can be found in the book Little People in the City: The Street Art of Slinkachu.

Take a look at a few of my favorites!

Photographer Recreates Childhood Photos with Amazing Accuracy

In Cycle 13 of America's Next Top Model one of the girls' photo shoots involved transforming a childhood photo into a high fashion adaptation. Since I am such a big ANTM fan I was immediately attracted to the photos of artist Irina Werning.


In her photo set called "Back to the Future" Werning not only recreated her subjects' childhood pictures, but replicated them to an amazing degree of accuracy. Take a look at some of my favorite photos (click to enlarge):

Pat & Carolyn Visit Daily Grace!

Grace Helbig is one of my favorite YouTubers, so when Carolyn and I had the chance to guest star in an episode of "Grace Goes Tubing" we couldn't turn it down! Clearly we are obsessed with America's Next Top Model, but we had no idea that Grace was a giant fan, too!

Check out our conversation with Grace as we compare notes on Cycle 16 of ANTM... kinda...

New SunChips Packaging Good for Planet, Now Your Ears!

If you've been following this site for the last year or so you know that I've had an unusual amount of posts about SunChips and their new compostable packaging. In December of 2009 I made this video questioning why the SunChips bags were suddenly so loud. In August 2010 the video was aired on NBC's Today show as part of a segment about the amount of noise the bags produced, and then in October of 2010 Frito-Lay announced they were going back to the drawing board with the bags because of consumer complaints (and dropping sales.)

Now SunChips has redesigned the planet-friendly bags to made them ear-friendly, too. The coolest part of the whole thing? The fine folks at Frito-Lay reached out to me and asked me to make another video comparing their old and loud bags with the new ones! Check it out:


The SunChips were provided to me for free, but nothing I'm saying about them is influenced by that. Here's some additional info if you're curious:

The new 100% compostable bag is about 2 times quieter than the first generation SunChips compostable bag. While there will not be a visual difference in the packaging graphics, consumers will easily hear the difference when bags reach their market.

The compostable bag is constructed in three layers; an outer layer that has the SunChips logo and picture on it, an inner layer that surrounds the chips inside the bag and an adhesive layer in the middle that keeps the outer and inner layers together. The adhesive layer reduces sound vibrations like shock absorbers reduce mechanical vibrations in a car, making for a quieter ride (and snacking!)

The SunChips folks are urging consumers to continue to provide feedback on the compostable bag on the SunChips Facebook page or by calling 1-800-352-4477.

What started out as a silly and quick YouTube video has become part of a larger Web meme, influenced a corporations production of its product and scored me some free chips! Internet win!

You're Followed! The Most Popular 'Celebrity Apprentice' Contestants on Twitter

With the new season of The Celebrity Apprentice premiering Sunday night at 9pm on NBC we've seen a ton of promos featuring the "crazy good" (emphasis on crazy!) celebs going at it on the show. Get to know the all the contestants here.


Beyond the cast drama, the whole point of the celebrity version of Donald Trump's reality show is to raise money for charity. In the past, the most successful players in the game are the stars who use their network and popularity to bring in the dough.

Popularity is measured in many different ways, but in this day of digital life having a big online fan base is just as important as selling out shows and performances. Out of the 16 contestants on the new season of Celebrity Apprentice 13 are on Twitter, so let's take a look at their number of followers and see who might be able to get ahead in the social media game.