Marisa LaScala: Writer, Editor, and Good Addition to Your Bar Trivia Team

...created a holiday gift-guide for die-hard Sherlock fans in case your mind palace was empty of ideas.

...rejoiced that Pixar came up with a new Toy Story short for the holidays.

...took at look at the times Melissa McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone teamed up on comedy projects.

...previewed the product that landed the biggest deal on Shark Tank then peeked behind the curtain at the home life of one of the sharks.

...looked into the literary inspirations behind The Librarians.

...attempted to find the real-life inspirations from Wally Lamb's Wishin' and Hopin', his Christmas special.

...looked at the past careers of two other Christmas special stars, Alicia Witt of Christmas at Cartwrights, and John Reardon of The Christmas Secret.

...figured out how Nashville fans can bide their time until it returns from winter hiatus.

...found out that people can decorate Christmas trees for a living, as Bob Pranga and Debi Staron do.

Image: screenshot from kaieldesigns/Etsy

Our Favorite Pop-Up Ice Skating Rinks Around the World

Click through to see the full slideshow at the Condé Nast Traveler.

Photo: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

Recently on Bustle, I...

...felt perplexed that The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 was split into two movies, so I figured out the page of the book where the first movie ends, determined what's left for Mockingjay - Part 2, and argued that dividing the last book into two movies wasn't the best idea. Spoilers abound for those posts, obviously.

...helped sleepy (hungover?) parade-watchers figure out what time and what channel the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was on. I didn't know CBS had its own rogue broadcast.

...argued that the best times to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas are on Halloween, in Christmas, and on Thanksgiving, or halfway between Halloween and Christmas.

...gave advice to the makers of Catfish regarding what they should change in the show's fourth season.

...reassured Batman fans that Gotham's Ian Hargrove is not from the comics.

...found out that Seasons of Love's Cleo Anthony is rumored to be appearing in -- where else? -- a Marvel project.

...wondered how the Magic Cook featured on Shark Tank gets its magic heat.

Photo: Murray Close/Lionsgate

For the A.V. Club's "Great Job, Internet!" series, I wrote about an artist, Hannah Rothstein, who took a series of photographs of Thanksgiving meals plated like different artists.

...Some of the images are as you would expect: The Piet Mondrian separates cranberry sauce, green beans, and stuffing into perfect, gravy-delineated rectangles, and the Georges Seurat forms a pumpkin out of dots of corn kernels. Others take more artistic license—like the Picasso-inspired meal served on the shards of a broken plate. (And the Rothko? It lives up to the description Jane Siegal gave the artist’s work on Mad Men: “Smudgy squares.”)...

Click through to read the entire post at The A.V. Club.

Photo: Hannah Rothstein. NB: She's selling prints of the photos, with a portion of the proceeds benefittnig the SF-Marin Food Bank.

Recently on Bustle, I...

...seethed with jealousy that Chris Pratt braids Anna Faris' hair, just one of the many reasons they're the perfect couple.

...cooked up some easy, cheap Gotham Halloween costumes.

...found out why Mr. Wonderful is called that on Shark Tank, and looked into where you can buy one of the products that I liked, but the sharks didn't. I would make a lousy Shark.

...sought out the comic origins of the tattooed stranger and Agent Triplett on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

...theorized that everything Victoria Gotti knows about reality stardom, she learned from her mobster father.

...found the perfect match for Briana on Are You the One, because it isn't Curti. 

...predicted that Amber is going to be the Snooki of Slednecks. 

...speaking of Snooki, who is her fiance, anyway? This guy. 

I spoke to education experts to demystify the Common Core for Kiwi magazine. To read it, download the PDF above.

Scariest Ghost Tours for Halloween

Explore haunted spaces, meet scary spirits, hear dark legends—and, yes, maybe learn a little history—on these ghost tours.

Boroughs of the Dead
New York City

...Even if The New Girl and The Mindy Project have modeled some success, 2014’s crop of TV rom-sitcoms—A to Z, Manhattan Love Story, and Selfie—will have to figure out what they would do if they were lucky enough to make it to a second season. Do they extend the will-they-or-won’t-they tensions, or is that just stringing audiences along? Or, might the couples get together in a season finalé, fundamentally changing the blueprint of the show for a sophomore season?

These longer-term questions aside, the single-camera Marry Me distinguishes itself by focusing on a couple who is together from the beginning. In the premiere episode, airing 14 October, Annie (Casey Wilson) and Jake (Ken Marino) have already been through their meet-cute, fallen in love, and spent six years together. The series premiere focuses on their bumpy engagement.

With this history in place, the show is free to focus on the comedy portion of the relationship, rather than the earliest, more sentimental stage. That doesn’t mean this rom-sitcom leaves out emotional moments; it’s clear that Annie and Jake really care for each other. Flashbacks to their initial meeting and the first time each says, “I love you” briefly deliver blushing first moments of love for viewers interested in that stage. That said, these early moments look ahead to the problems ahead, as Annie and Jake’s awkwardness gives way to scenes of abject embarrassment. Wilson and Marino are skilled enough performers that they can sell the tender scenes as well as the more exaggerated comedy... 

Click through to read the full review at PopMatters.
 

...If there’s a problem with Obvious Child, it’s born of the movie’s strengths. It’s a relief to see a movie that doesn’t treat abortion as a ordeal, and it’s refreshing to see a man in a romantic comedy be an idealized fantasy object. However, the combination of these two elements makes the film light on conflict. It’s important to Obvious Child to keep the abortion regret-free, so once the decision to end the pregnancy is made, it doesn’t continue to drive the narrative. The focus shifts to the relationship between Donna and Max, but he never seems to anger no matter how bad Donna’s behavior gets. Donna goes through ups and downs on her own accord, but nothing is too extreme...

Click through to read the full review on PopMatters.

I'm about to leave for vacation, but I was able to squeeze in a few Bustle posts before I go. Last week, I...

...speculated that Gotham will have Osborn Cobblepot turn into The Penguin sooner rather than later.

...uncovered Charles Michael Davis' pre-The Originals roles. You can totally tell he was a model.

...investigated a few TV stars' wives. Click through if you're looking for information about the spouses of Sleepy Hollow's Tom Mison (she's pretty crafty), or Supernatural's Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles (both actresses). 

Image: Jessica Miglio/FOX