Los Angeles | Island & Hills

January 11, 2016 / 0 Comments

Pop Culture Corner: Golden Globes 2016

This year’s Golden Globes were the perfect combination of glamorous Hollywood moments and career-making surprises. Before going into my personal favorite highlights and awards, I wanted to explain the difference between the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards (the Oscars) because it can definitely be confusing with so many award shows with what seems like very similar nominees. The Golden Globes are voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which is an esteemed group of top print and television journalists from around the world. The Oscars, on the other hand, are voted on by the Academy, which consists of fellow actors, directors, editors and other filmmakers – so it’s more of a peer vote. Additionally, the Golden Globes are the only award show that include both film & television.

I thought Ricky Gervais did a great job and unlike most award shows, I was happy whenever he re-appeared on stage and I really do appreciate his sense of Hollywood-deprecating humor, and the fact that he says what everyone is thinking in a totally unapologetic way. Although I did feel like his bit about the award show being long and boring was a bit overdone after the second time. Another early highlight was Jonah Hill dressed as the bear from The Revenant, but at the same time it also felt like a lame attempt to re-remind everyone that he’s friends with Leonardo Dicaprio so, it’s cool guys, he can joke about the alleged bear rape scene.

I was thrilled that Kate Winslet won for Jobs, she was great in that role and she’s just an overall gem in my heart. Her winning the same year as Leo was the cherry on top. So was this moment caught by the cameras during commercial break:

December 4, 2015 / 0 Comments

December Favorites: LA

DECEMBER 5TH – LOS ANGELES HARBOR HOLIDAY AFLOAT PARADE

This holiday tradition has been around for over 50 years and features elaborately decorated boats. The Battleship Iowa hosts guests to watch the event with cocoa, cookies, carolers, cocktails, and a visit from Santa.

DECEMBER 10TH – HOLIDAY HAPPY HOUR @ LA ZOO LIGHTS

Starting at 6:30pm, guests can enjoy a heated private lounge with complimentary snacks, wine & beer. There are even special holiday cocktails for purchase. What’s better than Christmas lights, animals & booze?

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/la-zoo-lights-holiday-happy-hour-21-tickets-1895847029

October 27, 2015 / 0 Comments

LA Trip

A couple weekends ago, I traveled to Los Angeles to see Aditi for the first time in over a year and a half! We put together a little recap video of the trip to commemorate our first reunion since the launch of Island & Hills. Thank you to all of our supporters who have helped Island & Hills grow over the past four months. This is only the beginning; more tales from our two cities to come, so stay tuned!

xx
Maddie

September 21, 2015 / 1 Comment

Pop Culture Corner: The Emmys 2015

THE HOST

I thought that Andy Samberg was an overall good host for the Emmys. He’s definitely a safe choice, about one step above Seth Meyers. I thought he was funny but his hosting also seemed like an obvious effort to pull in a younger audience. My vote for next year is John Oliver or Kate McKinnon.

I did appreciate the lack of cheesy song and dance skit. The opening video set the tone of his opening monologue, which was playful, but honest. As was portrayed in the opening – it is a little ridiculous to expect anyone to keep up with the amount of good television that’s available today. Living in LA, the billboards and constantly changing posters along the sidewalks make it difficult to ignore the shear quantity of pop culture to keep up with. Since the summer is such a down time for “good” television, the recent visual promotions and repetition of the titles of upcoming shows, makes me excited for fall television, but also wondering what I’ll have to miss out on since I also care about sleeping, socializing and having a full time job.

If Hollywood wants to pull in a younger audience for award shows, a more obvious, and possibly effective route would be to make the show available via live stream. It’s still frustrating that award shows are not able to be live streamed. If you can watch any sporting event on the ESPN app, on any device, why can’t you get on a FOX app and pay a certain amount of money to just stream the award show? It seems mutually beneficial and is mostly frustrating because I know we have the technological capability to make it a reality.

August 25, 2015 / 0 Comments

Distance

Despite not being in school anymore, this time of year surprisingly still feels like a new beginning. Though there are no major changes going on in my life right now (#blessed), some very close people in my life are going through changes and it’s been affecting me too. Some are starting college or graduate school, some are starting a new job, and some are taking on new roles (like fiancé and mother). Thanks to social media, I never miss anything. Although I’m eternally grateful that we have these technological capabilities because it makes my world feel smaller, there are also moments when I’m watching my brother’s graduation on FaceTime or taking a tour of my best friend’s new apartment on Skype that I can’t help but start to miss them more than I did before I called. It’s amazing, but frustrating because you’re so close but you’re not actually there. For me, it’s these important moments that I miss out on when I feel the distance the most.

July 27, 2015 / 1 Comment

I & H Spotlight: Genesis Keller

In our first I & H Spotlight, we talk to Genesis Keller, a 24-year-old LA-based teacher with the Teach for America organization.

Aditi: Who inspires you?
Genesis: Definitely my mom as well as the other women in my family. I’m also really inspired by what my friends are doing. We make a point to support each other and we’re always bouncing ideas off of each other. The kids I work with inspire me and make me want to be a better teacher and person, overall. They teach me about myself and about what’s important in life. My job in general inspires me because I love that I develop meaningful relationships with my co-workers, and I feel like I’m making a positive impact in the lives of these kids, in some way.

July 15, 2015 / 4 Comments

Coast to Coast: Summer Bucket List

With two good months left of our favorite season, we want to do everything we can to make the most of our first real, post-grad summers in LA and NYC! We’ve compiled a bucket list of our must-do activities — feel free to copy our ideas and share some of your own:

July 10, 2015 / 0 Comments

Networking – Part I

My senior year of college, I was constantly attending various mock interview sessions and alumni networking events, convinced that unless I picked up the skills and strategies taught at these seminars, I was going to be unemployed forever. Of course I was totally wrong. While these events were certainly helpful and gave me plenty of practice, there was something about memorizing my 10-second elevator pitch that felt forced. I’ve always considered myself to be pretty emotionally intelligent, and I realized that none of these conversations I was trying to pre-develop in my head could possibly seem genuine. If I ever found myself in a situation speaking to an employer of a company that I dreamed to work for, my gut reaction would absolutely not be to go on a 10 second rant about my career goals. That would be so awkward. I realized that these seminars were a lot like the difference between taking a class about a certain industry vs. doing an internship in that industry. While the class gives you the basic knowledge and understanding, you have no way of knowing what your strengths are or what your challenges may be, until you are actually in that situation. Upon graduation, I moved to Los Angeles, and decided that I wanted to come up with my own strategy for networking, that didn’t feel forced, and didn’t feel like work.

June 29, 2015 / 3 Comments

Deciding to Try

Regardless of what stage of life you may be in, anyone trying to achieve something is going through some sort of process, and self-improvement is the end goal for this process. A monk meditates to become enlightened, just as a football player goes to practice to get better. If you’re lucky, you are born into circumstances where your overall general process has been to go to school, get good grades to get into college, graduate and get a job in a field of your major, and if you’re really lucky, you enjoy your job.

Tag: Los Angeles

THE HOST