Happy Birthday, Lily!

We're likely to be busy all day, so this will be all you get, blog. I'm very happy to finally be spending Lily's birthday with her and I look forward to making it a tradition.

Busy Week

Dave and I are going to see my little sister in a play about Irish terrorists with a penchant for killing cats tonight, so this is a just in case post (albeit, one that might turn up some interesting google searches).

O'Douls

I don't know why Olde English doesn't just become a full-time musical group. Their sketches are great and all, but the recent music videos have been on another level entirely.

The Downswing

The unfortunate thing about Memorial Day is that I don't have any less work to complete this week, just less time in which to do it.

My parents and brother will be here in a matter of days, which is... fine. I don't know. I'm looking forward to seeing them as I do sincerely miss them, but the phrase "worlds collide" hardly ever holds a positive connotation to me.

I Have Snowman Ones!

With my 21st birthday fast approaching my friends and family have been asking me for wishlists and desires. I want to help, I really do, because I can be quite picky about things; but all I can think about is how much I like juice glasses. I love juice glasses. Love them.


And because I love them we have maybe too many of them in our tiny apartment. There are only two of us. This is not helpful.


What do I like besides juice glasses?

My Effortless Brilliance

I saw this last night, in a packed house that included the director and most of the cast and crew. It was a mostly-improvised local independent movie about being dumped by a very close platonic friend and trying to get him back. As improvised movies are, there were some rough patches but also some patches of brilliance, for lack of a better word. The main character is played by Sean Nelson, lead singer for Harvey Danger, who is actually a pretty darn good comedic actor. I highly recommend it if it ever comes to your town.

Here's the trailer:



Lily and I are going to spend the day cleaning in preparation for my family's visit next week. I just have to see if I can wake her up.

SIFF Gala Part 2

In addition to the screening of "Battle in Seattle" and the Q&A with the stars, the Mayor presented Michael from Northwest Film Forum with an award for his services to the local film industry.

(Backstage before being given the award, Michael approaches Andre 3000)
Michael: Hi, Andre. My name's Michael.
Andre: (sizes him up) Damn. That's a nice suit.

Michael decided at this point that he was now ready to die.

I'm Dull Now

Dave and I went to the opening gala for SIFF last night. It was a lot of fun but it did make this busy week even busier so I'm far too tired to think of how to describe it now. But Charlize was there, as well as Andre 3000 so that was pretty great. I need a nap and then I promise to be interesting.

Motley Crue

I'm at work, and I just read an interview with Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue that I had to share.

Mötley Crüe are headlining the first-ever CrüeFest, a multi-act tour featuring Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Trapt and Nikki Sixx's side project Sixx: A.M. The bassist promises an elaborate show that will rival the Crüe's 2005 carnival-theme spectacular. The exact setup remains a secret, though he promises pyro. "Most artists say, 'Can you keep that fire away from me?'" Sixx says. "We want to be in the fire!"

Too soon.

How will you balance out the set between new and old songs?
As the headliners, we just have 90 minutes, so we can barely fit our hits. There are some hits that we'll have to not play — and we'll sneak in four or five new songs.

I didn't realize that "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Kickstart My Heart" were each fifty minutes long.

How is the tour going to be different from Ozzfest?
I love Ozzfest, but it's a sausage-fest — real heavy on the dudes. For Mötley, it's always been 50-50. The guys come, and they dig the rock & roll, and they've got all the stuff they love — titties and beer.

Yeah, all right.

Will the Titty Cam be back?
We may have worn it out, though it always seems like a good idea once you get out there. It makes everybody happy; it should be called the Happy Cam!

Even Gloria Steinem approves! [citation needed]

I imagine the backstage of a Crüe concert is an insane orgy. Is that true?
Let's just say that you're not far off.

How uncharacteristically coy, Nikki.

COD

DONE, MOTHERFUCKERS.



Thoughts to come when I'm no longer broken in half.

ANXIOUS

Lily is ANXIOUS in big letters, she says.

Also, have you heard of this?: Cassette from My Ex. It's a website full of articles by "interesting" people talking about mixtapes their ex-girlfriends or ex-boyfriends gave them, along with a track listing of course. I haven't read that much of it yet, but it sounds sort of cool.

Surprise!

Yes! A self-indulgent beard/no beard post!

It's true, I am clean-shaven for the first time in over three years. What a world. Now I can know what it's like to be judged by my character, rather than the bushiness of my facial hair (kind of like "Black Like Me"). Here's the pre- and post-mortem:





Yeah, that's Mall Madness in the background. What.

Too Full

I ate more tonight than I have in months. It's quite painful. If this is what fat feels like, I don't want to be it.

Business as Usual

So my 90-year-old grandmother is in the hospital with pneumonia. Don't worry, it's not a big deal apparently, as no one in my family cared to call and tell me. She was admitted Thursday, and I didn't hear about it until I called my brother earlier today. And even then it was probably the seventh thing he mentioned after 1. His job search. 2. How the Mariners are playing. 3. How the Phillies are playing. 4. How he did at a softball game today. 5. How he did at a softball game on Thursday. 6. The funeral of someone else we knew from church/working in the nursing home.

I love my family, but sometimes I just don't know what their whole deal is. Honestly, you'd think we had fifty grandparents and long-distance phone calls were still a considerable expense.

AudioTool

I was going to play with this online AudioTool thing and then say how cool or lame it was, but my computer doesn't seem able to handle it all at once. It really may be time for an upgrade. Well, you can see what you think anyway:

http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/05/free-music-stud.html

Have a good weekend.

What a Beautiful Day

It's practically summer here. Why the weather's nice enough to make you wanna run around in a t-shirt and play the ukulele. In California. In a grainy 8mm music video.



That hit the spot. To say nothing of the tiny robot and vintage phaser-play.

Elevator Business

I was waiting for an elevator yesterday morning when one came, causing an accidental collision between a man and a woman who each wanted to board. They apologized to each other and got on the elevator with another woman and myself. The resulting conversation went like this:

Woman 1: Sorry about that. I guess we could all use some more eyes.
Man (in a foreign accent): I have only one eye... Two is a blessing.
Woman 1: ...Oh?
Man: I lost this eye when I was five.
(Woman 2 and I are completely silent)
Man: I was hit by a dart (makes dart-throwing motion). I have not seen out of it since.
Woman 1: ...Oh.
(Woman 2 sips her coffee)

There is no punchline.

English

Thank you, Houston Chronicle.

Also note the sign in the background that eloquently observes, "Texas is Not a Mexican Colony."

Man's Greatest Honor

Neil Young got a spider named after him! What a lucky guy!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24567280/

Beatles Survey

Hi everyone,

Lily and Dave are in the midst of an argument that we would like you to help resolve by answering a very short survey. Here it is:

1. After "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," what do you think is the Beatles' most widely known/acclaimed album? Bonus points if you list the Beatles studio albums in order from most acclaimed/well-known to least. (Also, feel free to dispute "Sgt. Pepper's" standing as #1, that's just been common ground for the two of us)

2. Name the top ten most widely known Beatles songs. It shouldn't be "favorites" or "best," but most recognizable to your average music fan.

Thanks for taking the time to do this. We promise not to break up over your answers.

- Lily and Dave

And Then There Were Five

Just twenty-one days left in this blog challenge, and there are only four other competing blogs left. Three of them have not missed a single day since February, so there's little hope of them suddenly going miss-happy, but Nora's burger will be ours!

Sad Kermit

Thursday was nearly a completely forgettable work day except for one thing: I discovered Sad Kermit's video for "Needle in the Hay."



His Myspace is great. "It's excruciatingly painful being green."

Da Bomb

Do you remember who the first person you ever heard say "da bomb" was? I think for me it was Cedric The Entertainer. He was bragging about some cool party he was going to throw with Steve Harvey on "The Steve Harvey Show" (let's not get into it). Then I remember "da bomb" was thrown around a lot for about five years, some people who said it were thrown off airplanes after 9/11, then it dissipated. Lily still says things are "bomb," sometimes but for all other intensive purposes, it's like the phrase never existed. Just look at what you get from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Bomb

"Da Bomb Bikes is a Taiwan-based bicycle company founded in 1998."

That's it!

Fake Busey

There's a man in Seattle who looks so much like Gary Busey that, when recognized, he often plays along and pretends to be Busey, even with people who have actually met and worked with the actor. This actually happened to one of my coworkers who swore she saw Gary Busey at Sub Pop's 20th anniversary party, an event mentioned in the Seattle Weekly piece.

That article's a little long and sporadically entertaining, but the slideshow is worth a look. The best part of the article itself is when someone calls out "Hey, Nick!" mistaking the fake Busey for Nick Nolte.

Fuck Yeah!

COD notebook done and turned in, bitches!

College Jeopardy

The kids on College Jeopardy knew nothing about popular culture. The "Movie Directors" category could have been an easy six grand for me. Missed opportunities...

Poor Dave

My COD notebook (it's a huge ordeal, that's all you really have to know) is due on Tuesday and I am working so hard that I'm worried I might break. If I don't I'm really looking forward to that hamburger, it's getting closer everyday!

The Office

I may be in the minority here, but I kind of like the direction they're taking "The Office." It's actually become, as Stephen Colbert once quipped, "that weird drama with Steve Carell."

I like the theme of Jim unwittingly becoming Michael (trying to reschedule all of the birthdays into one party, locking the whole gang into the office and then being racially inept/insensitive with both Oscar and the security guard). It's a miserable transformation in some ways, but I think it's realistic, and it stays true to the overarching message of both English-language incarnations of "The Office," which is that if you don't have the courage to do what you really want to do, you'll probably wind up being someone you never intended to be.

I oddly appreciate that Toby is becoming "the bad guy" (his and Ryan's reprimanding of Jim, his unsettlingly long leg-caress of Pam) and how that implies that Michael was right about him all along when everyone else loved him.

And then there's the whole "Ryan's drug-problem" which is sort of dark and interesting as is the pathetic Jan-Michael relationship. The show may not be as funny as it once was (nor is it as consistently hilarious as its sister show "30 Rock"), but it's developing substance in certain areas, and that makes me appreciate it more.

Also, if you want some spoilers, TVGuide.com has the listings for the next few episodes, and the season finale is titled "Goodbye, *character's name*." I'll leave it up to you whether you want to find out who it is.

I Got a Bike!

Pictures forthcoming.

May Day Marches

Does it count as participating in a protest if the march is taking place along the route you usually take home from work everyday anyway?

Woo! Immigrant rights!