rolling like thunder

It is scientifically impossible for Elton John to write a bad song. Exhibit A: “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues.”

jean tuxedo, among other things

What is the world has happened to Benecio Del Toro?

some album recs

All of these are incredibly incrediblely awesome, each different from each other. Up for only a week.

[ The Russian Futurists - Me, Myself and Rye ]

The Russian Futurists are a Canadian indie-pop band based in Toronto. Their music has been described as lo-fi and indie-electronica. Although they initially had only one member, Matthew Adam Hart, the band was later enlarged.

[Old 97s - Too Far to Care ]

The Old 97’s are an “alt-country” band originally based in Dallas, Texas. The group formed in 1993 and took their name from an old country song popularized by Johnny Cash, “Wreck of the Old 97.” They describe themselves as a rock band with influences as varied as the Kinks, the Beatles, the Pixies, David Bowie, Johnny Cash, and Merle Haggard. The band often performs country standards made famous by the latter two musicians, and has interspersed a number of these on their half-dozen albums over the last decade.

[ The Dears - Gang of Losers ]

The Dears are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec.The band’s music has been described as a cross between The Smiths, Serge Gainsbourg and Joy Division, with Lightburn’s singing voice being likened to that of Blur’s Damon Albarn and, more obviously, Morrissey of The Smiths.

I just joined to pay for dental school.

Some Battlestar tidbits (thank you Google alterts!):

The Season 3 premier will be a two hour movie. Woot woot!

An interview with Aaron Douglas.

The allure of Battlestar Galactica. Why is Lucy Lawless there? I hate when she acts like she is the star of the show. She was in like, two episodes.

[Previously: Battlestar]

golden oldie

Black Box; “Strike It Up“

I looooved this group.

unlimited my ass

Fuck Netflix. Why does it take 10 days to receive my dvds when the processing plant is in Hartford, 10 miles from where I live? This infuriates me. Either they are pursposely slowing it down because I rent a lot orthey are incompetent. I get six rentals at a time, supposedly unlimited, and because of the slow processing, I have gotten an average of 13 in two months. Whatever. I’m pissed. I am switching to Blockbuster online. They seem to have just as many movies and you get coupons for free rentals in the store. We’ll see. And that’s my new endorsement.

ever dreamed of having your own island full of girls?

Slate posted an exerpt from Feminist Chauvanist Pigs, a work I thoroughly enjoyed about female raunch culture, a.k.a., the new feminism. This exerpt talks about Girls Gone Wild. The sad thing is (among a lot of sad things) is that every aspect of it is orchestrated.

“Dispaches From Girls Gone Wild”

I didn’t just sign this because Fall Out Boy did

Some updates

I just did some crude mathematics and I’ve come to the conclusion that I acquire about 10 news albums per week. Phew! It’s all updated here. Also please direct your attention to my updated best of the year albums page, because I will be continually uploaded the albums. Also, it’s only about half the year and I already have a gazillion up there. There is sure to be more. Please let me know if you want anything and I will continually upload.

Alright, Still

I am really digging British singer Lily Allen. This is what (I hope) is the future of pop music. Some months ago people were saying Annie was the next saviour of pop, but I didn;t think so. Her stuff is less bubble-gummy than most and a bit more gritty. I would say it was Kylie Minogue meets The Streets meets M.I.A.

Get the album [ here ]

we’ll have a little chat and then we will bring you back out on the runway

There is a new blog from Project Runway producer, Michael Rucker, and he is C-U-T-E.

I made like three or four outfits

Ok, so Project Runway. I love the show, I have a lot of respect for it. But, they really pissed me off with this dog challenge. Dogs as accesories? Living beings as an accesory? This is totally perpetuated by the fucking Paris Hiltons of the world who buy small, purebreed dogs because they are trendy, and disregarding it as a living being. Sure, one could argue that these “high fashion” dogs have a good life because they get expensive pampering and expensive food. But their owners don’t want to take the time to really take care of them or clean them and grow tired of them when they are out of style.

Ok, so where did the dogs on the show come from? They were all purebreads, did someone donate them? Were they homeless? What did they do with them when the fashion show was over? They all thought it was so cute when one of the dogs was struggling to get out of its little designer outfit. Yea, maybe because it hurt it and scared it that is was confined by something. But hey, it was cute, so what did it matter?

Anyway, it would have been great if there was a little message at the end about adopting dogs or whatever. Maybe that was wishful thinking.

Anyway, there was some interesting fashion. The winning dress was blah, but I didn’t think the losing dress was that bad. I would have liked to see Keith leave for being an ABSOLUTELY ANNOYING ASSHOLE. Anyway,

here are the ones I liked the best:

And the ones I thought were fug:

Kayne’s outfit (on the left) looks like it could be found at Joyce Leslie. And I agree with Robert. The whole storytelling aspect of the designing is obnoxious. Camp Director at a children’s campin Paris? Japanese business woman? Wtf?

bring me to life

I am not ashamed to admit that I like Evanescence. The new album is finally coming out in September. Really, I just want to be Amy Lee.

The feminist movement is a hoax.

“We’re genetically programmed to go after successful men,” explains Lisa Johnson, author of How to Snare a Millionaire. “All the way back to caveman days, women had to mate with the best hunters, gatherers and providers for the propagation of our species.”

More insights from “How to Land a Rich Man“.

apparently

Miami Vice is supposedly good. Who knew?

sparkle motion

Here’s a golden oldie. Duran Duran’s “Notorious.” Most awesomely used in Donnie Darko, as the song for the Sparkle Motion performance.

have my babies Mr. Noblet

Stephen Colbert sticks it to morning news shows.

bodices ripping

Well, this could be ambarassing to admit, but I find it amusing. A friend of mine is moving, and unloaded a whole bunch of books on me, included a large amount of romance novels. Now, it may be surprising that a perv like me never got into that. I guess I hate bad writing and the stupid euphemisms they use for body parts. Anyway, it is redic. It’s like a whole other world of literature. I thought I would read some for fun, but even I couldn’t bring myself to do that. I guess I’ll be doing a lot of business on Ebay. However, reading the back covers have proven to be very amusing. Here are two of my favorites:

Use as Directed, for as long as it takes!!

Dr. Houston Hayes has never had trouble maintaining his professional distance with both patients and co-workers…until he meets resident Josie Adtkins. Every time this tiny tornado of cheery clumsiness drops a chart in his presence, he’s treated to a view that makes him extremely interested in her bones. Jumping them, that is. For a man who prides himself on control at all times, this is getting to be a problem. And problems always have solutions….

All her life, Josie has wanted to be a surgeon. But how can she do that while she’s suffering from the debilitating Dr. Hayes induced Dropping Medical Equipment Syndrome? Honestly, with those ice blue eyes and powerful shoulders clinging to a – whoops, there goes the blood pressure cuff- what’s a girl to do? And hen Dr Hayes shocks her by prescribing a very sexy cure: one night of shee-burning passion to erase the sexual tension for both of them. But only one night…he won’t need more than that….

Suddenly, Josie has a mission – a cance to prove the arrogant Dr. Hayes wrong. One night with her will nevber be enough if she has her way. And soon, bith doctors may be falling into a desire deeper that they’ve ever known…one that makes them hungry for more.

Sweet Jesus. This makes the writers for Grey’s Anatomy look like Dostoevsky. Here’s another a gem. Please keep in mind this is written in the voice of Elmer Presley, the fairy godfather:

Once upon a time, in a magic kingdom, there lived a handsome prince, Prince Charming, he was called by one and all.

And then this land came a gentle princess. You could say she was Cinderella.

Magic Kingdom? Okay, if you’re going to be a stickler for accuracy, in this fairy tale the kingdom is Manhattan. But there’s magic in the Big Apple, isn’t there?

Prince Charming? Oh boy! You’ve heard the rumors I suppose. So, he’s Prince Not-So-Charming on occasion. So he drives an orgage pick up truck, not a pumpkin coach. Big deal! He is handsome.

A gentle princess? Picky, picky, picky! Who says a woman has to be soft and fluffy all the time? Haven’t you heard of a royal case of PMS?

Cinderalla! Well, maybe she does wear blue suede shoes instead of glass slippers, but she’s looking for happily-ever after just the same. And I am going to make sure she gets her prince and her castle, not some hounf dog and the Heartbreak Hotel.

Folks, I am ashamed of my gender.

burn

This is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. Apparently the shit-tastic movie You, Me and Dupree was inspired by a Steely Dan Song and didn’t even give them credit. The band then wrote an open letter to Luke Wilson telling him his brother is an asshole. I love open letters to the community. THere is just not enough of them anymore.

requiem for a yay

From Pitchfork:

Mogwai Score Aronofsky Film

Well I’ll be. Mogwai have once again boarded the soundtracking ship, this time with Captain Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream). Makes a little more sense than Miami Vice, doesn’t it?

The band contributed to the score for Aronofsky’s upcoming film, The Fountain, playing music written by Clint Mansell. No surprise party there. The Kronos Quartet are also on the soundtrack.

Oh Annie

Anne Coulter is just so hilarious. She should go on the road with Sarah Silverman. It would be a regular old laugh riot. A recent interview she did with Donny Deautsch has some real gems.

Ms. COULTER: I think that sort of rampant promiscuity does show some level of latent homosexuality.

DEUTSCH: OK, I think you need to say that again. That Bill Clinton, you think on some level, has — is a latent homosexual, is that what you’re saying?

hotties in my state

Ok, so there is a movie being made based on this book, Reservation Road. The good news? It’s starring Joaquin. Even more good news? Mark Ruffalo is also in it. Oh, it gets better! They are filming in CONNECTICUT! Oh, I knew I moved here for a reason.

According to Fox News, Reservation Road is set to start shooting on Oct. 1 in Connecticut. Joaquin and Mark Ruffalo are set to play the male leads. Jennifer Connelly is on board as Joaquin’s wife. Joaquin is probably going to play Ethan, the father who loses his son.

‘Hollywood agents and managers are on red alert this week. Oscar-nominated director Terry George, who brought “Hotel Rwanda” to life and garnered numerous awards, is casting the fourth of a quartet of actors to star in his next film.

George is set to begin shooting “Reservation Road” on Oct. 1 in Connecticut for Focus Features. The story, based on Jonathan Burnham Schwartz’s novel, centers on two couples and what happens when one husband kills the child of the other in a hit-and-run.

So far, Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo are set to play the male leads. Jennifer Connelly is on board as Phoenix’s wife, a role that George tells me every actress in her age range has coveted. But the part of Ruffalo’s wife, which is said to be just as good, if not better, is still open.

George is said to be considering a slew of actresses, from Annabella Sciorra to Christina Applegate, with plenty of other names tossed in there, including Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Parts this meaty for young actresses don’t come along very often anymore, so you can imagine the jockeying for position on George’s list.

I can’t wait.

More details on the Killers new album. I’m squirming in my seat thinking about it.

new friends for my barbies

Are these anatomically correct?

no surprises

Lance Bass finally comes out. Really, who si surprised? The sad thing is he needed to hide it.

“I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys’ careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything,” he tells the magazine.

Bass says he wondered if his coming out could prompt “the end of ‘N Sync.” He explains, “So I had that weight on me of like, `Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it’s bad.’ So I just never did.”

Sadly, at the height of their popularity, I thought Lance was the cutest. THat’s the story of my life.

Oh, and ps, here’s his boyf: Schwing!

hot lunch

I just watched two movies that I ADORE but haven’t seen in ages; Strictly Ballroom and Fame.

Both made me tear up. And both made me incredibly frustrated that I have no talent (in the performing arts, that is).

steady as she goes

You are all well-aware of my obsession with the Racontuers, but this is an unbiased opinion. They make some pretty cool fucking videos. “Steady As She Goes” features Paul Reubens, how much cooler can you get? “Hands” is also good- they do those concept videos that I am so fond of.

this is thw world we live in

Sorry, I’ve been slacking on posting the oldies. So I’ll post three today.

Love Spit Love, “Am I Wrong?”

Shannon, “Let the Music Play” Dance til you drop!

Cracker, “Low“

huh

‘Project Runway’ Controversy Exposed

Top reality TV show Project Runway has found a new “villain” after contestant Keith Michael was exposed as a plagiarist. Supermodel Heidi Klum, the star of the US show, hinted that one contestant was dismissed from the program for “something illegal” in interviews before the new season started earlier this month. And now it has come to light that Michael was so desperate to appear on the third season of Project Runway, he submitted designs that allegedly weren’t his. Fashionistas at website TelevisionWithoutPity.com raised the alarm when they realized the wannabe designer’s ideas on the show were almost identical to runway photos that had appeared on sites such as Elle.com and Style.com. The 34-year-old designer won the show’s first fashion challenge. Klum is thrilled by the controversy: “We have a great villain. You always hope for something like that.” But the disgraced designer insists he did nothing wrong. In an email to the Blogging Project Runway, Michael stated he had submitted five portfolios to the judges and the portfolio that has landed him in trouble was “a research assignment I did for a client in which I reviewed key fashion trends.”

 

Is this the scandal they were talking about? And why is Heidi so excited? Is she just excited for ratings? Is he the one asked to leave? And why do I even care? I don’t care for Keith anyway.

porcupine racetrack

Can this finally be happening?

The State to be Released Soon on DVD?
At their San Diego Comic-Con panel and in an interview with ComingSoon.net for their upcoming Rogue Pictures comedy Balls of Fury, actors/writers Thomas Lennon and Ben Garrant, best known for their Comedy Central show “Reno 911,” revealed that the long-awaited DVD collection of their sketch comedy show “The State” would finally be released in some form later this year. “The State,” which starred Lennon and Garrant’s previous comedy troupe of the same name, aired on MTV from 1993 to 1995, but never has been re-released in any form. “‘The State’ at long last actually is coming out either on DVD or iTunes,” Lennon told us. “They just rescored and we’re all doing ADR,” Garrant continued. “The thing that was preventing it was the music clearances,” Lennon explained, “because at the time, MTV had a deal that anything with a video you could just use. No longer the deal.” “All our sketches that were built around a Breeders or a Lenny Kravitz song, which was a lot of them,” said Garrant, “so we had to rescore everything, but finally, MTV put up the money to rescore it, and I guess it’s coming out.” “It’s coming out sometime this year, I bet,” Lennon concluded.

nobody said it was easy

Aimee Mann did a cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist” and believe it or else, it may be just as good or actually better than the original. I’ve been listening to it on repeat in the fetal position for hours now. If you don’t know who Aimee Mann is, I hate you.

And this one’s for Andrew: the new Scissor Sisters song, “Don’t Feel Like Dancing“.

And since the links were not working, I reuploaded Neutral Milk Hotel and Taking Back Sunday.

Paul Feig

It is rare that a book makes me laugh out loud. Superstud: Or How I Became a 24-Year Old Virgin was an amazing book. Paul Feig, who was the creator of the show Freaks and Geeks, wrote this memoir specifically about his lack of success with women and dating. I absolutely in awe of the way he writes. He details most of his embarassing moments, including some extracts of his journal from high school. The absolute funniest thing I ever read was the play-by-play of when he lost his virginity. Which, surprisingly, was less about the sexually explicit stuff and more about the hilarious self-consciousness and dumb stuff going through his head (i.e., what should he take off first, socks or pants?). I am a hige fan of memoirs and reflections, and I have rarely read anything better. I am in awe of authors who can write so descriptively and realistically. It was a like a celebration of the socially awkward and major geeks. A fantastic summer read. I hope he writes or produces another tv show/movie soon.

I’m going Rogert Ebert on your ass

Here is a rundown of some movies I’ve watched lately.

• The Libertine: love the era, love the premise, but found it a bit slow. And the slow painful death from syphyliius wasn’t too lovely.
• 13 Going On 30: I’m ashamed that I even took the time to even watch it. Don’t get me started.
• A Histroy of Violence: Should be called a A Boring History of Boring.
• The Merchant of Venice. I couldn’t say who was hotter, Joseph Fiennes or Lynn Collins. Good acting, good cinematography, but sub-par Shakespeare play.
• She’s the Man: Ok, aside from the racism, sexism, homo- and trans-phobia, Channing Tatum’s buttaface, Amanda Bynes‘ bulimia bloat, I…uh…kind of enjoyed it. Don’t tell anyone.
• Gangs of New York: I am only halfway through, but this may be one of the most amazing movies ever made. I am dead serious. Even Leo wasn’t that bad.
• Jesus is Magic. I hate Sarah Silverman. She thinks just saying something racist will make it funny, just because it’s racist. And saying “poopy” is apparently comedic genius.

coming soon to a theater near you

He’s at it again.

Chest Rockwell

Finally, John C. Reilly gets some recognition.

get get get get get over it

I caught the new JC Penny commercial with once-awesome band Ok Go. Ok, maybe it’s not selling out, but is that the direction they want to go? JC Penny? They lost a little bit of indie rock cred there.

I would be pissed too

The residents of Fire Island have some major hatred for the reality show that is taping there. I would too. Enough is enough. YOu wannabet the cast is straight too.

roots radicals

According to this,

July 2006 is gonna be the start of a worldwide Rancid tour to coincide with the release of a Rancid DVD that includes 31 Rancid Music Videos covering our years 1993-2003. We will keep you updated on the tour dates when they are made available. Also you can check out rancidrancid.com for other info. And last but not least to answer a question frequently asked; Rancid will have a new record release in the springtime of 2007.

Please let them go back to the …And Out Came the Wolves Days.

a response

So Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth was pretty convincing, but when presented with statistics, it is always good to bring a little skepticism. “Research” and “statisitics” can always be presented to support a case no matter what. Sure, I do believe that we are severely fucking up the environment, but did Al Gore bend the truth a little to make his case stronger? This researcher from MIT gives a pretty constructive follow up. Nevertheless. it still couldn’t hurt to buy a hybrid car.

Should art museums be free?

Should art museums be free? The answer is yes. Having admission prices, even siggested donations, further polarizes it into making art museums some sort of “hoity-toity” interest reserved for the upper classes. Art museums are also a place that kids really benefit from visiting.

I just want to bring you down so badly in the worst way.

Some more music that some of you requested.

Taking Back Sunday, Louder Now 

Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea 

Fall Into Fall Out Boy

I don’t know if this is selling out or what. Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy is doing an ad campaign for the Gap. This guy is so astronomically worshipped by prepubescent emo kids everywhere it is scary. Especially pictures of his junk were all over the internet. Is posing for Gap ads punk? I don’t know. He is kind of an attention whore though, making many people forget the arguably more adorable, chubby lead singer Patrick Stump.

source

mr. brightside

The new Killers album is out October 2.

The new Trail of Dead album is Out October 3.

I can hardly keep my pants on.

take that Al Gore

The first rule of creating encironmentally friendly poducts is that you don’t talk about environmentally friendliness.

maybe baby

Heath Ledger as the next Joker? You know what, I think I can see that.

how literary

So you know this emo pop punk whatever band Panic! At the Disco? I’ve just been informed that they write a lot of their stuff based on Chuck Palahniuk’s books. Maybe I think that is cool, because they obviously read them, but are they doing it just to seem edgy? Are they doing it only as part of their image? “The Only Difference between martyrdom and suicide and press coverage” [lyrics here] is an obvious reference to Survivor; “Time to Dance” [lyrics here] I think refers to Invisible Monsters. I am not too thrilled with their music, but er, um, they are kind of cute.

wow

Hey, I don’t know if you have heard, but there is this new thing called blogging. It’s supposed to be cool. Apprently young people are doing it.

It’s a total Battlestar day

Jamie Bamber is in Out magazine flaunting his goods. Just come out, already.

For the most progressive and groundbreaking show in the genre, Battlestar’s lack of gay characters is acute. “Well, as far as you know you haven’t seen any gay characters,” says Eick, claiming that because the characters are still dealing with the annihilation of civilization, there’s not much room for gay story lines yet. “As we evolve through the series and get further away from that cataclysm, we may feel like it’s less of a stretch to start showing people getting involved with each other. Who’s to say who won’t turn out gay?”

The rest of it is here….

my imaginary boyf

It’s always a sad day here in my world when once of my celebrity boyfriends gets married. This time it’s the Strokes’ Nick Valensi.

Proj runway pageant dresses

Loved these:

Hated these:

bwah

US Trendsetters Go on Strike.

oh this needs to stop

I actually had to fan myself. Photographing Ewan MacGregor should be illegal. In addition to these:

my fair maiden

So my mother is about two steps away from becoming a Ren Fair enthusiast. She is at a college in Connecticut in at an early/baroque music conference. Pretty much band camp. She is staying in a dorm and I came and visited her and also to bring her flip flops for the shower. How cute! I was nervous we would fight again, but she revealed to me that she loooooves Project Runway. We have something to bond over! And she has the same feelings that I do, which gives me hope that we will one day get along: she feels Kara San should fuck off, that Wendy was unfairly picked on, that Daniel V is a doll, and that Chloe was boring. There is hope for us after all.

Anyway, tonight’s episode: Fuck. off. Angela. I actually liked the green dress. Kayne could potentially be annoying, but somehow I really like him. I really like Robert Best, but I would love to see more of his ideas.

Is it October yet?

Ph my god. Did Starbuck have Leoben’s baby? I am very jealous.

[passes out]

the big lump in my throat

Sometimes this sets me over the edge. And by sometimes I mean everytime. The Senate passed a bill regarding stem stell research and Bush is expected to veto it. Sorry to bring it down to the lowest common denomonator, but I can’t wait until Bush develops Parkinson’s or Alzheimers and I can remind him that he can’t find a cure because maybe that cell in some test tube maybe has a brain and is a person.

oh the horror!

This is pretty shocking pop culture news. This movie, on one hand, is going to be amazing because it is a period piece and stars Eric Bana. So, yay! But it also stars the two women I loath, Natalie and Scarlett. Gross! Maybe they can teach each other how to act.

Lost in Translation star Scarlett Johansson has joined Natalie Portman and Eric Bana for The Other Boleyn Girl. The film is based on Philippa Gregory’s historical novel, with Johansson and Garden State star Portman playing two fiercely ambitious sisters, Mary and Ann Boleyn, who were rivals for the heart of 16th century British monarch King Henry VIII, played by Munich actor Bana. Executives from BBC Films, which originally acquired the book rights and made a 2003 TV film starring Natascha McElhone and Jared Harris, are also producing the project. Filming is scheduled to begin this autumn in London, with Justin Chadwick slated to direct.

I can’t handle this.

THis is a pic from a friend’s recent trip to Australia. It’s a wallabee, My fourth favorite animal (behind elephants, gorillas, and naked mole rats). Anyway, the cuteness of the pic is too much. I look at it and I curl up in the fetal position shrieking.

bittersweet

Oh, I forgot to mention that Weezer announced that they are not making anymore albums. You know what? Thank fucking god. The Blue Album and Pinkerton were amazing, but after that it all went downhill. Such a shame.

R.I.P. Classic Weezer.

Weeds

Holy crap Weeds is an amazing show. Mary Louise Parker is my goddess. Celia Hodes’ daughter is fucking awesome.

Apparently. Mary-Louise and the writers loathe each other.

Sister Savior

omg omg omg omg The Rapture’s new album is coming out in September.

Do you have 30 hours of your life to spare?

Then this is the place to be.

http://www.insuranceandnews.com/ 

Some of my favorites- Nu Shooz, “I Can’t Wait”; Pretty Poison, “Catch Me”; Seduction, “It Takes Two”; The Jets, “Make It Real”

unthinkable.

My coworker, who is an out lesbian, sent this to me. It happened about 5 minutes from where she grew up.

A Hate Crime in Maine. 

yech

This is all kinds of wrong and sad. I can’t even get into it.

the age of aquarius

I am watching an amazing documentary called Broadway: The American Musical. Seriously. I am crying. I am constantly reminded that Stephen Sondheim may be the biggest genius of the last century.

I don’t necessarily agree

Why Harry Potter Must Die

It’s kind of like my feelings on series finales of shows. The writers take so much time to tie things up neatly. Why not leave it up to our imaginations? I wouldn’t mind leaving things open. That way the series is like a slice of the characters life and therefore makes it more realistic. Of course the right wingers want him to die for his sins.

more musc

The new Ratatat album is beyond amazing. Too bad it is two private school trust fund kids making the music. But fantastic.

Ratatat; Classics

I finally got to see High School Musical in its entirety in sequential order. It’s so bad it’s good. I cannot believe the fanbase this movie has. People are devoted. And the story is bad…you would think the big finale would actually include a production of the musical. But oh well. And the messge is not all that strong. The popular kid just gets more popular. Wow, I can relate. Anyhoo, the soundtrack is a total guilty pleasure for me. “When There Was You And Me” might be the best thing I’ve heard in a while. There should be more musicals being made. And I don’t mean second-rate versions of Rent.

High School Musical Soundtrack

Built to Spill are timeless and know how to put out an amazing album. Their latest is no exception. I saw them live a couple of years ago but at the time didn’t have the most appreciation that I could have. Listen to it toute suite!

Buit to Spill; You In Reverse

wish i was there.

Today’s the Siren Festival on Coney Island. And I’m not on Coney Island. Sigh.

they’d better not fuck this up

So the clips and trailers for Running With Scissors is in full affect. In case you live under a rock, it is based on the memoir by Augusten BUrroughs. I do not have high hopes for the movie basedon what I have seen. I do like the casting of Gwynwth Paltrow, she basically gets to play Margot Tennenbaum again. And…Joseph Fiennes as a pedophile? I will be conflicted because I luuuurrrve him. Back to my point. The book was not so much funny hah hah but funny like dark humor, as in, I can’t believe a child went through this. The instability of his mother was tragic, and I am not sure how they are going to make her a comic character. It looks like they are just trying to get some sight gags in there. We’ll see.

ok I’m battledorking out for a bit

There is a Season 3 teaser going around, but it’s nothing new.

Tyrol is scruffy. Baltar is scared. Kara Thrace has a weave. Anders is hot. No surprises. It doesn’t answer my burning questions: What is up with Cally’s baby? What will Number Six be wearing? Is Apollo still fat? Is Baltar still having orgies in the Oval office? I can’t wait until October.

Also, Richard Hatch is milking his BSG fame for all he can get. He has edited a collection of “philiosophical” essays.

The science-fiction television series Battlestar Galactica is known for raising thought-provoking questions concerning martial law, artificial intelligence, power and corruption, and ultimately what it means to be human. What ethical complexities come into play when one mistake could mean the anihilation of the human race? How do you maintain faith in the Gods when you’re involved in an Armageddon of your own creation? What is the distinction between a terrorist and a freedom fighter? These questions are given an intelligent and insightful examination in this engaging collection of essays.

Look for my entry entitled Who is the cylons’ stylist? and Anders and Helo: the Secret Affair.

it’s call satire people look it up

Reno 911 was off to a good start to the season on Sunday. They are back to including their badly acted PSAs.

Now, I had a heated conversation with someone about how I could possibly find this funny, especially since working at a Rape Crisis Center and basically being human. I think it is one of those situations of the “if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry” situations. Satire and sarcasm is how I deal with the world. Plus, Clementine’s deadpan delivery is spot-on perfection.

project yayway

SoI won’t analyze it to death, but I am so glad Project Runway is back on. First off, who is this lucky bastard whose career is designing clothes for Barbie? That must be absolute heaven. The winning dress tonight was so-so. It was pretty, but nothing special. Personally, I loved these:

There are too many people on right now for me to remember who is who. So I can’t really say who I like and don’t. But…Daniel V has a blog! He is too cute to even stand.

always time for this

Well, it’s been a while since I have posted some hot pixxx of celebs. And by long time I mean 5 minutes. Ewan MacGregor is in Woody Allen’s new movie. I don’t know what it’s about. And I don’t actually care about the plot.

whoa

I just received an application in the mail to enter the Miss Connecticut pageant.

le fin

Well, my little getaway is over. As much as Cooper was a pain in the ass (he chewed up my bra and crapped in the house twice) I will miss him. I’ll miss his Chewbacca growl when I am not paying enough attention to him and his love of laying on my feet at night.

Although this little getaway wasn’t quite the Zen experience I was expecting, I guess it was good. Part of me is excited to get back to work. I have been checking my meeting scheduler from here and I am actually sorry that I missed some stuff. On the other hand, the thought of walking into the office on Thursday is giving me the dry heaves. It wouldn’t be so bad if I could use my satellite office where I am not disturbed, but it is under about a hundred pounds of asbestos right now. Sitting at an open desk in an office with lots of others is a little bit too much togetherness for now.

Well, I did get to do some reflecting, and here are my goals for the rest of 2006.

1. Get my financial shit in order. I opened up a Roth IRA account, now I actually need to understand how it works.

2. Get rid of any material possessions that I don’t need. I am sick of having STUFF around. I save everything and have the crappy decor from my senior year apartment. That needs to go.

3. Reevaluate my volunteer experiences. Decide once and for all if the Humane Society is really worth my time. If not, find something else.

4. Start my resume and interview prep stuff now so I will be totally ready when March comes.

5. Reevaluate who I need to focus my finite amount of social energy on. There are people that I invest in that I am not getting the return on that I need, and others who I have been neglecting. I need to refocus that and try to get rid of the interactions that are not helping me. I am not trying to be cryptic. The “unhealthy” ones are not reading this anyway, so don’t be paranoid you are one of them.

6. Get my shit together at work and work ahead so that my days don’t consist of putting out fires everywhere and just reaching the status quo by 5pm. There are some intitiaves I want to start and the crappy everyday stuff gets me sidetracked.

Oh , the other things is I will be chairing a conference come October. This is seriously huge. It is a conference for my professional field for people all over New England. I guess I should be careful of getting what I ask for. This time I would like the opportunity to organize logistics for an event, like Election Protection, but this time have some composure and not cry every five seconds. And not have a psycho boss that tells me we are adding a new region on the 11th hour. I’d also like to not threaten suicide in my hotel bathtub (which I did during EP) and/or hurl my clipboard across the room in a tantrum (which was my shining moment at my internship at Hopkins).

new phone

Well, I feel like Paris Hilton at a party with her swavorski-encrusted sidekick. My archaic phone got caught in a sandstorm at the beach and died tragically. Today I picked up a Virgin Mobile Switch Back phone. I’ll tell you, I am a sucker for marketing because I was like ooooooh!!! It’s so pretty and shiny. Anyway, I can pay for very few minutes, which is good because I barely talk on the phone anyway. Anyway, I lost all my contacts in my old phone, so please leave a comment here with your number (s) so I can add you. The comments don’t show up right away because I approve them, so I will just get your number and not approve the message.

You’ll be getting an email with new number shortly.

tumbling

Strangers With Candy reunion on the Colbert Report!

lucky

Conan O’Brien spoke at Stuyvesant High School’s graduation. That is such as awesome way to end high school. I am kind of obsessed with that school. Although the video is kind of Blair Witch-esque, you can still hear it.

just when they had me….

Just when I admitted I kind of liked the show, they go and do this douchebaggy thing….

The British stars of the original The Office show are set to visit the US version of the hit comedy to shoot cameo roles. Ben Silverman, who executive produces the American version of The Office for NBC, claims employees of Slough, England paper company Wernham Hogg could find themselves sharing an office with Scranton, Pennsylvania company Dunder Mifflin. Silverman tells the New York Post newspaper, “There’s a lot of love between (the casts and crews) of the two versions of the show. Expect some cameos from the UK paper company.” While Silverman refuses to name which stars will be appearing, he does say the show’s creator Ricky Gervais, who played cringe-worthy boss David Brent in the UK version, won’t be on the US comedy anytime soon. He says, “We’re going to save the big man for now.”

Um, STUPID!!! How can the two worlds exist together? Especially when all the characters are based on each other? I guess they will try to play it off as the fact that archetypes of characters exist in every office. That or some of the old cast is looking for work. I hate this idea.

As an addendum to this….

I KNEW THE ANSWER TO EVERY QUESTION IMMEDIATELY.

Awesome or sad? I can’t decide.

links from the last few days

Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams filming Enchanted. Looks good!

20 tips to avoid being a douchebag in law school. Hilars!

Rupert Grint learns how to drive. Exciting.

Kate Winslet voted hottest bod in the UK. I agree.

How principled are opponents of scientific research?

Nigel Barker is Straight?

I want a Smart Car sooooo bad.

if you give a damn about broadway

July 9, 2006

Producers Use the Web to Romance Audience and Bring Them Back

scurvy

Well, Pirates: Dead Man’s Chest broke like a thousand box office records. I am kind of suprised. I mean, more than Star Wars? I haven’t seen it yet. I have heard it was aight. Although, coincidentally, I have managed to have two conversations this week involving scurvy. Unrelated.

my dream

I would give anything. And I mean ANYTHING to appear on VH1’s World Series of Pop Culture. It’s like what I was born to do. It’s like my purpose on this earth.

finally

TV is actually good again. Reno 911! premieres tonight, and Project Runway on Wednesday. I hope they keep the drama out and show more fashion stuff. I actually don’t care about the actual people.

rock lobster

I don’t know what the frig Film Four is, but this advertisement is like a wet dream for my celebrity obsessions. Ewan MacGregor dressed as a tomato, Judi Dench as a lobster, and also including Gael Garcia Bernal and Mackenzie Crook.

this sounds a bit too familiar

Someone to watch over me (on a Google Map)

don’t tell PETA

Well, Cooper the puppy is getting kind of needy…maybe I really am a cat person. He is cute as hell, but I can’t even so much take a piss with him there wagging his tail looking up at me. I know when I get a dog I will get an older one so they are more chill. I got to get to the beach, and it was a semi-private beach, so I felt like I was in one of the summer episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 and Brandon was going to give me a drink and David Silver was going to write some shitty song on his casio for me.

I also got to run around in Providence for a while and I can say I love it. It is kind of like a sibling to Washington, DC…brightly colored old houses divided into different neighborhoods with different feels. RISD and Brown are also beautiful. I was thinking that I could see myself living there. Then I thought about sitting through another winter and I almost dry heaved. I may have my sights set on San Francisco.

I also watched some more movies. Against my better judgement, I watched Elf, which was pretty hilarious. That is, if you find Will Ferrell funny. I watched the part where he bursts into the office spinning and yelling “I’m in love I’m in love I’m in love and I don’t care who knows” about a gazillion times.

The Manchurian Candidate (the 2004 version) was also good and very disturbing. I love Jonathan Demme’s style, but I almost wanted to send it back to him just to touch it up a bit. I felt like it was good, but just SOMETHING was missing. I thought the way they remade the story from being brainwashed by Communists into a major economic superpower privately owning a president. It was nice to have it updated to relevant and salient issues. Anyway, I felt that the plot was sloppy and it left a lot of huge holes. But good.

Then I watched Galaxy Quest. I think if I saw this when it actually came out I would have hated it. Being the budding sci-fi geek, I did love how it poked fun.

chick lit

I don’t usually read the popular “women’s fiction” confessions of a shopaholic crap. I do enjoy Marian Keyes. She has a way of making fun novels with characters that have some sort of depth and relatability. Sushi for Beginners was enjoyable. It was about three women in Dublin who work at a women’s fashion magazine. Yea, I know what you are thinking. Although her writing I would suppose is weak- she spends about 80% of the book just setting up the characters in different situations that don’t necessarily move the plot along. Then, I guess she realizes she needs to wrap things up so in the last 50 pages there is some surprise plot twist. I also think she has been despressed in her life, because ultimately one of her characters sufferes from a major depressive breakdown. Anyway, I’d reccomend her stuff, especially for beach or mindless reading.

Welcome to my life,

So my life has reached a new low. Cooper the puppy has diarrhea. In the house.

I can’t believe this is happening.

whoa

I don’t know what Sony was thinking, but there are billboards for the new “white” PSP. They get the point across abd are visually stunning, but what the frig?

some celeb junk

If you thought I have perved our before, well nothing like this. So as you know, I have ongoing insomnia, and when I wake up in the middle of the night, I have to either watch the Disney Channel and/or ABC Family. Don’t ask me why. Well, I caught the premiere of that new show Kyle XY. It was actually kind of good. Although I liked it the first time WHEN IT WAS CALLED ROSWELL. But anyway, I totally have a crush on the main character, the alien guy with no belly button. Ok, no biggie he was born in 1982.

Ok, but then I stoop further into pedophelia. Remember the kid from About A Boy? Well, it turns out that he’s all growns up. I think he was born in 1999 or something. I disgust myself.

Ok, I realy want to hate Keira Knightley after she denied having anorexia, but she did say: “In a way, it’s good that it’s out there and that people are talking about it.” Ok, so she has a point.

Ian MacKellan I think is the coolest guy ever to live. Rumor has it that it is boyf on the left.

Peter Sarsgaard drops his ice cream cone and that makes news. More importantly, why is he wearing a jean tuxedo?

Whoa. I think someone knows he’s being photographed.

Eric Bana is in a new movie with Drew Barrymore. I miss the mutton chops and polyester pants. And the Roman battle armor. I don’t even care what this movie is about.

i’m impossible to forget, but difficult to remember

Well, it turns our Elzabethtown was as ghastly horrible as expected. Cameron Crowe thinks he can make a “meaningful” movie by giving an urban kid a trip through the South and playing trendy indie music and he has a hit. God, the Dunster and her fangs were so bad it was funny.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, however, was surprisingly good. I love America Fereira and want to see her in every movie. It was nice to see a teen movie where the focus of growth for the girls did not always revolve around boys and clothes and shit. Well, it almost all didn’t revolve around that.

Oh, I also rewatched Quills and I just realized that it is probably the best fucking movie ever made. This movie should be shown at every acting class ever given. It’s Kate Winslet at her absolute finest, among others.

Um, is Center Stage fo real? Jody Sawyer, please close your mouth. And the end workshop? WITH THE MOTORCYCLE? I almost died. Sweet jesus.
I love being forced to do nothing but watch movies and read.

casper the friendly ghost

I have tried several times to defend and describe the appeal of Larry Clark movies. It is pretty hard, considering the guy is the world’s number one perv. I will say Ken Park didn’t do it for me, but his other stuff is genius. This recent Slate article did a good job of putting that defense into words.

Because while Clark might very well be a pornographer, a hypocrite, and whatever else you want to call him, he’s also the only American director working today whose work reckons with the complexities of our current generation of MySpace exhibitionists, and especially the way so many young people today seem to relish their own exploitation. These kids know no boundaries, and Clark—who often dives right into bed alongside them—doesn’t, either. But spend a little amount of time on YouTube or Veoh, where college students upload videos of themselves exposing assorted body parts, or peruse a few MySpace blogs, where teenagers chronicle every last mundane detail of their private lives, and you realize that propriety has long since left the building. Clark’s approach to things is reckless, voyeuristic, often contradictory, and deeply indiscreet. It’s an aesthetic that presaged everything from the Girls Gone Wild videos to the cheerleader epic Bring It On to “gay-for-pay” Web sites like StraightCollegeMen.com. And it’s rapidly turning out to be the defining aesthetic of our time.

too far? nah

Folks, I have always loved The Onion, and lately its content has become more and more borderline offensive. Am I alarmed? Of course not. The best way to react to all the shit that is going on is to laugh. Because if you don’t you’ll cry. See more for some of the funniest shit I have read there in a long time.

rustic America

So I am glad I decided to housesit/dogsit for JT. Rhode Island, despite being the whitest place in America, is actually really nice. I have been forever ruined by growing up in Long Island, because I think anyplace that is not city is a whole chain of strip malls and Chi-chi’s restaurants. Around here everything is very green and very beautiful, with a downtown Main Street with some Mom and Pop shops, health food stores, and chotchke stores. And the beach is only about 5 minutes away. I don’t usually do the beach, but I plan on plopping my ass there with a book for most of the time. Also, his apartment is huge and practically professionally decorated. It looks like a suite in the Disney Wilderness Lodge. Seriously, there is a barrel of pinecones somewhere.

his name in lights

Andrew is in Billboard!. It’s too bad they didn’t post his blog address.

balimos

You know you need a vacation when….

You scream at someone in the post office parking lot

your coworker in the office next to you is playing Enrique Englaisias really loud and you can think you are in the tenth layer of hell

When you listen to your heavy metal hair playlist and “November Rain” brings tears to your eyes

oh it’s true and you know it.

The Onion is going back and highlighting some of its old articles. I, for one, could never get tired of anything in it.

Secondhand Smoke Linked To Secondhand Coolness

i’m out

It’s good how things work out sometimes. This week and next I will be housesitting for a friend in Rhode Island. Which is perfect because I really don’t want to be at work and I need to be away from my own environment to do some introspection and relaxation. Although I usually hate the beach, maybe I’ll give it a try, because he lives only a few minutes away. I guess sitting on my butt in my low-rider chair and reading can’t be all that bad, huh? Also, he has a lil’ puppy that I’ll be watching. I am pretty sure I have internet and I am sure if I do, I will post often, but if not, well, I think you and I will both carry on with our lives.

So, anyone ever spent time in Providence/Newport?

Fayetville, AR?

Some ideas of where I want to move next. Austin, of course. But maybe Minneapolis?

8 Cheap Places You’d Want to Live. 

singles

Here’s one that screams early nineties Seattle angst. Used in the movie Singles. You’ll recognize it.

Paul Westerberg, “Waiting for Someody“

some stuff I’ve been reading

Toby Young has better titles to his books than actual content. I enjoyed How to Lose Friends and Alientate People, which was a collection of vignettes about his attempts to become an entertainment journalist in New York. Basically this guy has my dream job. The one I just read, The Sound of No Hands Clapping, was basically about the success of his first book, and his attempts to become a Hollywood screenwriter. I enjoyed it because I love anything that goes inside pop culture journalism, but man is this guy an egomaniac. I’ve already forgotten most of it.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference was way better. Although it is mostly pop psychology, it talks about how trends and ideas get explosive and it only takes about 20% of the population to influence the other 80%. THere aregood analysises about how Sesame Street became a phenomenon, how the crime in nyc was dramatically lowered, and how fashion trends are started. Nothing groundbreaking, but quite interesting. Kind of like Freakonomics.