barack

Can't tell you how much I love this guy after tonight.

"WE are the ones we've been waiting for."

i [heart] you joey joe

There was a rumor this week that the New Kids on the Block may be staging a reunion tour, a rumor that Danny Wood denied on his MySpace page. That being said, NKOTB.com seems to have a new song from the band on its home page so who the hell knows. But man, I hope it's true!!!!!!

Anyways, in looking for NKOTB info, I found this blog that someone runs called NKOTB are Still Kicking Ass and it's all about the members of the band still kicking ass! Yeah! But then...well, I found a scary entry. It had photos of a girl's room plastered with New Kids posters and well, my first reaction was "Wow! That looks just like my old room! And her posters are even closer together than mine!" And then I realized I was jealous that her room looked more like "New Kids wallpaper" than my room in which you could still tell what color the walls were. :( That being said, I was able to identify at least 15 posters/centerfolds/pin-ups in her room that I also owned. I can't believe I still remember that.

So this of course brings up a crazy question: what band would you go see if they reunited? Now, I'm not talking about the Beatles or something -- everyone has to be alive for one. I'm talking about that band you loved when you were a kid that you would pay to see for nostalgia's sake now that you have your own paycheck to spend and don't need your parents to drive you to the arena. 'N Sync? New Edition? Wham? Ohhhh....Wham! That would be sweet. Or are you one of those Smiths fans that want to see them back together even though that's not going to ever happen because of the animosity among the former members? Comment with your band so we can all point and laugh at you.

wikit: bobby fischer

Last week, Bobby Fischer died and since he is an elusive pop culture icon, I figured I should mention him. So here are some weird facts about Bobby Fischer from Wikipedia.

-- only American to win the World Chess Championship
-- beat a Soviet chess player at the height of the Cold War. Nifty.
-- had his US passport revoked after playing in Yugoslavia, going against an UN embargo
-- was half-Jewish but an anti-Semite near the end of his life
-- lived in St. Louis for a few years before moving to Brooklyn

But really, the reason I'm posting this is because I told someone at the office that we should post an MP3 of "One Night in Bangkok" to go along with the story and he had no clue what I was talking about. How can you not know I'm referring to a song from the musical Chess that was written by the Bs part of ABBA?

Yes, I am a geek. Why do you ask?

So here you go everyone. Enjoy some Murray Head. I think I downloaded the original musical version because it has a bit of a long instrumental intro.

Murray Head - One Night in Bangkok

lady liberty

When I was six year old, I went as the Statue of Liberty for Halloween. Swear to God and it was sweet! My mom made me a robe with stars on the bottom, then wrapped a flash light and a crown from Burger King in tin foil. Let it never be said that my mom rocked!

I bring this up because apparently they destroy the Statue of Liberty in the new movie Cloverfield. I say "apparently" because I've been warned by two people to not go see it. That being said, Maxim did a whole thing about five movies that manged the lovely lady. I would rather link you to the discussion on Oh No They Didn't because Maxim? Really? Exactly.

My favorite Statue movie moment is below. I mean, the Ghostbusters, pink slime, and the Statue of Liberty. What could be better?

wikit: a day that will live in infamy

On this date in 1920, a very very sad thing happened: Prohibition started.

Ah, the 18th amendment of the Constitution. I hardly knew you. Actually, I never knew you considering you're the only amendment to ever get repealed because you were stupid.

Let me explain it this way: My law abiding Catholic grandfather, God bless his soul, used to make moonshine in his bathtub during Prohibition. When you criminalize alcohol, it's only the criminals who have it I guess.

Now, I will admit that yes, there are bad people who don't drink in moderation or drive drunk or don't feel the need to have a properly functioning liver. But for those of us who are responsible drunks, I say screw you, 18th amendment!

So everyone have a drink tonight and make sure you make a toast to the awesomely amazing 21st amendment.

Btw, here's a picture of prescription form in case you had to get a prescription for medicinal liquor. Medicinal liquor? And I thought California was crazy for having medicinal marajuana. Apparently, there are alot of things out there that are good for you after all.

the boring but cool awards

Because of the writers' strike, which you all should be supporting, the Golden Globe Awards this year consisted of a boring half-hour long press conference. Good thing about this: totally short awards. Bad thing about this: not enough drunk people. Seriously, the Golden Globes is all about the open bar and watching celebrities get their awards at the end of the night while being totally drunk. Or, you know, stuck in the bathroom as one winner did a few years ago.

At least Mary Hart is still looking good after all these years. I think it's plastic surgery, Aaron thinks it's just good genes. Maybe she's got some Dorian Grey-type portrait in her office at Entertainment Tonight or something.

As for the awards themselves, I give them an "eh" for being blah. First, the only Office nomination was for Steve Carell as best actor and he lost to David Duchovny. What the hell is this -- 1999? Not that I'm complaining considering David is making a new X Files movie and is easy on the eyes. But other than that, I just don't know. I read Ian McEwan's book Atonement a few years ago and didn't much care for it so I don't plan on seeing the movie so who cares if it won best drama? I may have to see Sweeney Todd now at the theater and same with Mad Men on my Tivo.

But other than that, I'm surprised I missed making fun of drunk people in hideous dresses. I thought I was less superficial than that. Apparently not.

the sci fi nerd in me is revealed

Entertainment Weekly did a list of the top 25 sci fi shows and movies of the past 25 years. I thought I would check ou the list and realized that I love about half of the stuff on it. Crazy! I mean, a 30-year-old woman should not be this in love with stuff on the list, right? But then, when some of you see the list, I think you would agree that it's hard to not love some of these things. Among the shows/movies:

-- Back to the Future -- I had such a crush on Michael J. Fox back in the '80s. Mmm...Alex P. Keaton. Plus, who didn't want a DeLorean after that movie? That car still looks damn cool all these years later.

-- ET -- Damn, did I love that movie! I remember my parents actually taking me to that one way back in the day. I'm going to have to put this movie on my Netflix list so I can see it again. After all, who doesn't love an alien that eats M&Ms and gets drunk?

-- The Matrix -- As the article mentions, the second and third movies in this trilogy were disappointing, but that first flim in 1999 was so amazing and proved to some nay-sayers out there why I loved Keanu Reeves so much.

-- Lost -- Can't wait for the new season to start. Of course, I always sit back at the end of every episode, bewildered, and say "What the fuck was that about?" But isn't that half the fun?

-- Firefly [tv] and Serenity [movie] -- This has become a recent love of mine and I can't wait for this writers' strike to be over so I can buy the DVDs for both the show and the movie. I decided to watch this show because I love Adam Baldwin on the show Chuck and he's also in this series. Between him and Nathan Fillion, there's plenty of eye candy for the ladies out there, but it really is a good show content-wise as well.

-- The X-Files -- Oh Mulder and Scully, how I love thee. To see I'm totally geeked for the new movie is an understatement. Plus, did you know they've released the entire series on DVD in one big box set? I saw it on sale at Costco and started salivating.

So fess up -- what are your favorite shows and movies on this list? And what do you think they ignored that you want on there?

chuckles

Alright, so one of my New Year's resolution this year is to write more on this blog and since I've been getting crap from some of you, I guess I have no other choice, eh?

Has anyone else been feeling the pain of the writer's strike? Yeah, me too. My poor shows that aren't on the air because of some greedy bastards that own the networks and have way too much money. I'll write more about why you should support the WGA later.

In the meantime, let's celebrate one of my missing shows. You should all be watching Chuck and the funny thing is that it turns out some of you actually are watching the show. I was back East for break and talking to my cousins and at least two of them love this show as much as I do. Yeah! So what's it about? Basically, this guy's brain turns into a super computer when he downloads a bunch of classified information into it. So he's now a guy making $6 at the Buy More [like Best Buy] as a Nerd Herder [think Geek Squad] and yet has to be protected by the CIA and NSA because of the info he knows.

Chuck is played by Zachary Levi and he's absolutely awesome! You all need to check out this show for him alone. In addition, there's an amazing supporting cast that really makes this show cool. Plus, they blew up a car three blocks from my apartment for the last episode of the season...so far. How can a show like that be bad?

headline stupidity

I love reading the New York Times, but sometimes even the Times goes a little wacky. Here's the front page headline for this story: MTA Failed During Flood, Report Says. Really? The subway flooded and people couldn't use it, so the people who run the subway failed? Wow. That's some awesome reporting there, New York Times. [end sarcasm]

By the way, this reminded me of the time they had a huge fire in a subway station in Lower Manhattan a few years after 9/11. We were supposed to have a safer subway system, you know, because of terrorists and stuff. Despite that, apparently a homeless person's shopping cart caught on fire and shut down the entire C line for months. Good job, MTA.

Sometimes, I don't mind having to deal with traffic on the 405 if I don't have to deal with these crazy people.

vma train wreck

Every year, I watch the MTV Video Music Awards hoping this year will be different. This year is going to be better than last year. This is the year that MTV will prove that all those past horrible shows were just a fluke.

Every year, I am proven wrong.

Seriously, the whole show last night was a train wreck and you knew things weren't going to be good when Britney Spears opened the show. Her "comeback" performance was awful. She half-assed the singing, the dancing, the wardrobe, and the hair weave/wig on her head. The only good thing about the performance was her make-up. I don't know who her make-up artist was, but if that person had been in charge of that entire performance, it probably wouldn't have been the debacle it was.

People, if you make a comeback during your career, you should follow in the footsteps of John Travolta in Pulp Fiction. Now, THAT was a comeback! Britney's crappy gyrating and horrible lip syncing? Not so much.

Did anyone else watch this horrid awards show? The only good thing about it was when Justin Timberlake performed at the end. I mean, Justin was awesome last night! He was the only one.

rated s because it sucked

So the motion picture board watches movies and then decides what to rate them. The thing is sometimes they give a certain reason for the rating. Most times, this would be normal. But there are occasions when it's bizarre. Alien vs. Predator got a PG-13 for slime and Twister got a PG-13 for "intense depiction of very bad weather" [scary!]. I still sometimes movies need to be given a rating to warn people that the movie is crap and you shouldn't see it. Like Glitter or Gigli or something. Those movies need special ratings just for the scariness of them.

trip across us part two

So here is Part One from a month ago. Sorry it took so long to finish this story. And even with this, it's not done!

After Colby, Kansas, it was more of the same -- nothing. I thought that when we would cross into Colorado, it would magically change and be awesome. Yeah, that didn't happen, although we did see the magical sign that told us the speed limit there was 75 mph. Yeah, no joke. Finally, though, we could see something on the horizon. The Denver Airport! Yeah! People! The drive through Denver wasn't too bad, but once we got into the mountains, things were a little hairy. It's definitely not easy driving in the mountains and if you don't get a good run up a hill, you're screwed for about a mile as you try to get up to speed. On the other hand, if you're going down a hill, you just have to ride it out so you don't burn out your brakes or get hit by the truck behind you who is also riding it out. Our Garmin keeps track of several things, including our fastest speed, and I think I hit our high speed of 85 while going down a mountain.

We finally made it to Vail and met my parents at the condo. It was the first time Aaron had been out there so it was good to finally have him along for a trip. My sister and her boyfriend had arrived a few days earlier so the six of us – parents, Aaron and me, sister and boyfriend – headed out to dinner that night at our favorite restaurant in town. My dad is turning 60 in August so we decided to do an early dinner with all of us in celebration. Lots of fun and totally yummy as always!

The next morning, Alix left bright and early at 5 a.m. Blech. But being the good sister that I am, I woke up to send her off…then promptly headed back to bed. After getting the whole gang up and ready – again – we headed for the mountain. Vail has a gondola that runs up the mountain in the winter for all the skiers, but in the summer, you can also ride it up and either hike around the top of the mountain or hike down. We decided to just stick to the top, forgetting that there were some uphill climbs that were not fun. Mom and I gave up early and headed back to relax in the shade and take in the view. Aaron and my dad kept chugging along and even got as far as the Game Creek Bowl chairlift, which not only was quite an impressive hike, but is also the chairlift we favor when we hit the slopes. Apparently, Aaron does, too. Here’s proof.That night, we had dinner in nearby Avon and then waited for the fireworks…and waited…and waited. Aaron got pretty bored, I got yelled at by “security” for breaking into a roped-off area to use the Porti-Potty [it wasn’t roped off when I went in], and I was denied cotton candy by my dad…well, and the long lines. At least the fireworks rocked!

The next day we headed out to Vail for the cheesy Fourth of July parade, which was a bit of fun but also a bit of a walk. We ended seeing some very old neighbors from way back when I was a kid and laughed at the pageant mom who was chiding Ms. Little Vail Valley [estimated age: five] on how to properly way to the crowd. I was laughing, yes, but it was quite disturbing. Then Aaron and I decided to go on a date and headed to the Transformers movie in nearby Edwards. I actually enjoyed the movie, but we got there an hour early to buy tickets and no one was there. I mean, biggest movie of the summer, lines out the door in NYC, and we had no problem buying tickets at the only movie theater in a ten-mile radius showing the flick. How embarassing. After that, it was dinner with the parents and home. And then instead of the ordeal we had in Avon, we watched the fireworks from the condo. Much better.

Bright and early the next morning, we drove to Piney Lake, a 15-mile drive on a dirt road. It was totally worth it. Look at this scenery!
We did some hiking and Aaron ran ahead because there were too many bugs. He was trying to swat them away and kept losing the battle. It was so cute. After that, we had lunch and then the two of us rented a canoe to take around. We actually did a great job with the canoe – never tipped it – and made it back just in time to miss the rain.
By then, we were all a bit beat so we headed home. On the way back, the car in front of us slammed on its brakes and we couldn’t figure out why. Turns out there was a moose with a baby on the side of the road. We’ve never seen moose back there before so it was a great treat.
We saw another one a little later as it bounded across the road in front of us. The thing was as big as a horse, but really agile and just seemed to hop on by. Crazy.

But back home we had to go to pack for our drive the next day. We had a lot of road ahead of us and many, many hours before we got to Vegas. As we pulled out of Vail, Alice chimed “Stay on I-70 for 212 miles.” Ugh. Thanks, Alice, you stupid GPS lady.

california rocks my world

Last night, I was up at 12:58 surfing the Web when I felt a jolt and my desk shook. Weird. So I called to Aaron in the next room, "Did you feel that?" And just as I saw him walk into the living room, the apartment started shaking. We both kind of hovered in the doorway of the bedroom until the second shake subsided. Turns out California welcomed us with open arms by giving us a nice little earthquake. Lovely. It didn't seem very nice or little to me, but most Californians are saying it wasn't that bad. Um...the earth moving below you isn't that bad? Good thing I haven't hung up my shot glasses yet.

The U.S. Geological Survey has a cool Web site that updates instantly with earthquakes, which is where we checked first. The big square on this chart is what we felt. We're just south of Santa Monica on the map.

celebrity sightings

So I can officially say I've made it in LA now that I've had a celebrity sighting of mine posted on Defamer's Privacy Watch. My friend Heidi took Aaron and I out in her neighborhood and we were apparently are very cool because celebrities followed us in! First, Jason Segel from How I Met Your Mother, then Mandy Moore, and then Vince Vaughn. Vince Vaughn! I'm that cool.

Last night, I went to the Arclight in Hollywood to see Hairspray [and sing along with the words at the bottom of the screen]. It turns out that they were hosting the premiere of The 11th Hour there last night, which is Leo DiCaprio's documentary about global warming. I didn't see Leo, but I did see Adrian Grenier from Entourage. Man, that guy is definitely hotter in person. Like really hot!

So yeah, I'm awesome...or a starfucker. One of the two. And by starfucker, I mean hanging around celebrities, not actually...you know. I have a husband for that.

sunny day

Sweeping the clouds away...Does anyone else remember that song? Yep, it's the theme song to Sesame Street and the 38th season of the show is starting this month. Yikes! I remember watching this show as a kid so that makes me feel old. Anyway, the premiere is going to include all kinds of celebrities from Rachael Ray to James Blunt. Plus, Anderson Cooper is going to be reporting for Grouch Network News from a garbage can. I don't care if Anderson smells like trash, he's still hot. Oh, Anderson!

So here's where we all travel down memory lane. Does anyone have a favorite episode of Sesame Street? My favorite was when everyone found out that Snuffulupagus [spelled it right the first time!] was real. That episode features Phil Donahue as a guest. There was also the one where Mr. Hooper died and I learned about death, which they made seem really nice. So what were all of yours?

And holy crap! So I did a search for the Sesame Street Christmas Special on YouTube and Ethel Merman and Michael Jackson were in the special. No joke! I think that's also the part where Bert and Ernie meet O. Henry.