Neil & Laura Smith are two of my favorite people on The Internets®. Neil is a multi-talented smartypants who works in video, makes electronic music and digs comics and sci-fi. Laura is one crafty chica with mad knitting skills and cooks food that makes me want to crash their family dinners all while being about the coolest full-time homemaker around who knows how to rock a Nirvana t-shirt. She and I are like total BFFs on Twitter, ya know.
They are both charming, adorable and completely hilarious, Plus they have a daughter who is following in her parents' creative footsteps and will probably rule the world one day.
Together, they have an awesome monthly podcast that makes laugh out loud every single time I listen.
As if that weren't enough, they are also two-thirds of a band called The Sleep who just released their first music video for their album Never In A Million Years.
It's dark and gothy and you'll never look at steak the same way. Check it out.
I love the peeps over at fred flare, those purveyors of stuff that is cute and rad. They blog and make super fun videos, all while running their online store and their newly opened Store Cute. Plus, they are super nice and fun!
When you place an order with them, you can leave a comment in the "special instructions" field of the checkout. A lot of people ask them the draw pictures on their receipt. Like a taco. Or a sun. Or Mary-Kate Olsen.
By the way, you can help fred flare raise money for a good cause by making Valentines. If you make a handmade Valentine and mail it to them by January 15, they will be selling them online and in their store. All the proceeds will go to Elder Craftsmen, an organization that brings craft workshops to senior citizens in NYC.
Raising money for charity. That's just another way they rawk.
Yesterday, I had breakfast with Mary. Isn't she adorable? We ate at The Farm at South Mountain which is a lovely place to eat outside now that it's no longer so hot one spontaneously combusts under the hot Arizona sun. But I will say, they have this trees with little flowers that fly all over the place during so you have to protect your food from tree debris every once in a while.
This is what Mary ordered.
The Farm Monte Cristo. Isn't this genius? All the goodness of breakfast in sandwich form. And it's on french toast! And there's syrup! Brilliant.
When they brought it out, I had breakfast menu, although mine was pretty tasty as well.
In general, Phoenix is politically lazy. It's hard to get people fired up and more difficult bringing people together for a common cause. Blame it on the suburban sprawl or inert apathy, or heck, blame it on the heat. Whatever it is, it's not every day when the people take to the streets.
So to see almost two thousand people banned together to support civil rights, is quiet an achievement. That number may seem small compared to our population, but trust me. For this area, that's huge.
I am so happy that Homer came up from Tucson to go with me. Being Mr. Popularity, he of course ran into a bunch of people he knew, including Frank.
One thing that bothers me about this movement is racial divide I see being promoted based on the media's ad nauseum reporting about exit polls showing 70% of African-Americans voted for Proposition 8 in California.
First, let me say this. The media is full of shit. This is not the first time they have beat a story – that's not really a story – to death over and over because it's either a slow news day or just to make something sound much bigger than it is because they are in it for the ratings.
Exit polls are notoriously an inaccurate representation of what's really going on. They survey a small percentage of voters after they leave their polling place. Many times it have been proven to be faulty data but the media treats it like pure unquestionable science.
I repeat, the media is full of shit.
There were many different categories of voters polled during the election that were either close to or over 70%. The media singling out the black polling data is not only racist in of itself but it's also race baiting. Shame on them.
During the numerous speeches at today's protest, one speaker, a state senator, specifically pointed out that African-American ministers directed their congregates to vote for Proposition 8 & 102. Hey guess what. LOTS of preachers, ministers and priests spoke from the pulpit in favor of these measures. Shame on them but moreover shame on YOU, Mr. Representative, for focusing on the black preachers in today's speech.
Ugh. Rant over. (For now.)
Despite this, I am encouraged by what I saw today. I saw a polarized, historically apathetic community respond with passion, vigor and unity. I saw people of all shapes, sizes, colors and types joining together for the good fight. It was in so many ways a beautiful day.
Ugh. I paid all my bills this weekend and now I'm staring at the crumbs at the bottom of my bank account. Maybe if I push them all together, I can make a cookie.
What better thing to do when you're strapped for cash, than look at stuff you can't afford to buy!
My friend St. John invited me to Saturday's Diamondbacks game. I like the idea of baseball. It's all American like apple pie, afterall. But every time I go to a game, I forget one thing.
Baseball is so freaking boring.
Seriously, I was nodding off in the first several innings. It is a sport of sitting and waiting for something — anything — to happen. It's like Waiting For Godot only with beer. And rednecks.
Oh and people worried about your eternal damnation.
That being said, what I LOVE about baseball is the over-saturated advertising the minute you step into the stadium. It's everywhere. Normally, I'd balk at this commercialism but I embrace it because it brings me the sheer joyous entertainment known as the Taco Bell Food Fight!
They pick three people and put them in these cumbersome costumes — a taco, a burrito and a Pepsi® — and have to run from one side of the field to the other, sometimes knocking each other over.
Has it really been THREE WHOLE DAYS since I last posted? After the blogpostpalooza, I thought I might be on a roll and continue posting daily. But instead (much to the chagrin of a certain someone), I decided to forgo blogging this weekend and enjoy a rare occurrence here in The Valley Of The Sun®.
Rain.
Wet, dark, cold rain. Such a beautiful sight. The sun beats down on us so much here, that we loves us some gloomy weather.
The best part is waking up and hearing it rain outside. Then when it stops, the sun starts to break through, trying to reclaim its territory.
So awesome.
Something else that's awesome, is Patty Griffin's song, Rain.
All hail the healing powers of liquoring up when you are sick. I feel like a new man. I still sound like crap, but nothing a few more shots of cheap brandy won't cure.
I spent the day doing tons of laundry and clearing out the DVR. Is anyone else as bored with Heroes as I am? Yes Claire, we know you can regenerate. We watched you ooh and aah about it all last season. Stop flinging yourself onto the concrete and actually do something please.
And WHEN is someone going to kill Mohinder? Please. He mohinders my ability to enjoy this program.
And take out Ando while your at it. Clearly, the actor who plays him learned his craft from this guy.
And OMG when did I become someone who blogs about television?
Installing Creative Suite 3 on my work PC was a nightmare. When you roll out CS4, how about having the uninstaller actually uninstall everything. That would be nice. Or even better, maybe you can convince my boss to let me work on a Mac like God intended.
Sincerely,
Brian
Dear Germs®,
Stay away from me. I'm supposed to get a flu shot tomorrow and I can't if I'm sick so back off.
In August, Keith of fred flare, asked for people to burn a CD of their favorite songs and mail them to him for his birthday. In return, he'd make one and mail it back. So I sent him one. I got mine yesterday and it's awesome. It has great tracks by Inner City, Prince and so much more. And some really hot mashups. He also threw in a copy of The Kung Fu Girls CD. It's very cool. Fun stuff.
Today, I received a book from a certain Goonies-obsessed Simon Pegg fan. It's called Bad Cat and it's like LOLcats in book form. I loves me some LOL[person, place or thing] after all. Thanks Mikey!
Speaking of books, I'm currently reading The Amateur Gourmet: How to Shop, Chop, and Table Hop Like a Pro (Almost) by Adam Roberts. I've been a fan of Adam's for a while now, but I gotta tell ya. This book impresses the hell of me. I knew he was an excellent writer, but this book is a pure joy to read; warm, funny and completely charming. I highly recommend it.
This morning I had breakfast with the lovers former known as The Roommates. Not only did this mean I would get a temporary reprieve from the ghetto I now call home, but also I'd get to eat at one of my old haunts, Orange Table.
I have mentioned my love of certain fictionalized terrorism here and here. The three of us used to stop whatever we were doing to watch Keifer Sutherland kick terrorist ass every Monday until we became more interested in saving the cheerleader and the world.
I loves me some dollar stores. Sure they have limited stock of things that actually have a use and don't get me started on the food they sell (ew!) but you can usually find interesting kitschy stuff as well as a few of the basics. And hey...it's a DOLLAR.
A Dollar Tree opened up next to the pet store near where I live. After buying Elliott's food (and an endless internal debate of, "Should I buy him treats when I know he'll never eat them all?") I popped over to see what the grand opening had to offer. Ten bucks later I had a bagful of stuff I could actually use.
Have you tried Goo Gone? It's the shit! And this tiny bottle will last me forever. I've had the same large bottle for years and there's still some left. I left it with Julie and Jason when I moved out.
And guess what...it was a DOLLAR!
Those drawer organizer? Perfect for the utensil drawer in the kitchen. And the were each a DOLLAR!
Bubble mailers for possibly mailing bloggers who want a little something something. (Yes. I still have a zillion stamps.) And the best part? They were only a DOLLAR! And maybe I'll write a note on my cutesy notepad that was...wait for it...wait for it...ONE DOLLAR!
I love love love these foil sheets. The fit the toaster oven very nicely. And...say it with me...it was only a DOLLAR!
The starch is for my many plaid shirts. I realized when packing and sorting my closet that I tend to wear plaid shirts as a uniform now. I have a ton of them. I'm not sure when this started, but me thinks I need to go shopping for some variety soon.
Only, not at the dollar store. I do have some limits.
The irony of me working at a television station is I don't watch very much of it. I don't have the attention span or interest for much of television anymore. I only watch two, maybe three shows regularly and a couple of those I record and watch in fifteen minute increments while eating breakfast or dinner throughout the week.
One show I have been enjoying a lot is Heroes. I've always enjoyed super hero stories and I like the X-Men meets X-Files feel of the show. I think this show has a lot of promise and am glad it's doing well considering that most shows I enjoy are cancelled swiftly.
Last Monday, Julie came home about 15 minutes before Heroes started and gasped having realized something truly awful: Starting in January, 24 will be on at the same time as Heroes.
Nooooooooo!
It's either time to dust off the other VCR* or Heroes will have to take a hiatus and I'll catch up with it on DVD, because while I may enjoy the whole everyday super hero bent, I LOVES me some fictitious terrorism.
Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. It totally made my day. And luckily the terrorist plot to sabotage my birthday was thwarted. Go Team America. Just keep on doing what you are doing.
I'm taking today off to do nothing. Hear that? Absofuckinglutely nothing. And it's great. Greater than great. I actually slept in this morning. Well, I did initially wake up at 5:30 (grrr) but eventually went back to bed to sleep a while longer.
Tonight will be the big birthday dinner with all my peeps. (Did I just actually say "peeps?" How dumb.) And tomorrow night is the championship for this season of roller derby.
I don't watch a lot of television unless I rent the DVDs. But I have been GLUED to 24 this season. WOW! What a freakin' roller-coaster ride it's been since January. I do loves me some ficitional terrorism. It especially goes well with homemade pizza.
I had a feeling the Chinese would eventually make an appearance and strongly suspected it would be at the end for a big ol' slice of cliff-hanger pie.
But then it occurs to me, Jack made a crucial error that lead to his being captured.
A lot of folks say the real breakout star of 24 this year is Mary Lynn Rajskub who plays Chloe with such abrasive charm. The producers have expanded her role tremendously this season and she's provided she actual does have range during the moment Edgar died from nerve gas poisioning as she watched helplessly. Of course she snapped back to her usual tact-free self about 14.23 minutes after the silent countdown salute and his body went cold.
But I say the real breakout star this season is Jack Bauer's Man Purse. It's the shit. He's got it with him everywhere. That thing is loaded more that Batman's utility belt. Plus, I like a fictional counter-terrorism agent who isn't afraid to show a little style while kicking some terrorist ass and simultaneously getting fucked over by his own government.
Also, after 19 hours of non-stop action, I'm pretty sure the man purse not only has and endless supply of ammo, but a compartment for Depends. Now THAT is functionality.
Disclaimer: This is not a well articulated post, but then again...are any of them?
I'm going on record now. I fucking love Roller Derby. I mean FUCKING LOVE IT so much that I'll end this sentence in many reinforcing exclamation points to illustrate how much I fucking love it!!!!!!! Like OMFGBBQ it rawks!
I love it so much, I'm actually going to make it its own category. THAT'S a fan baby.
Last night's bout was awesome. A great game. I think I finally understand Jennifer's unnatural obsession with OU football. I get it now Jenn! I was yelling and cheering my head off so much that my voice is a little hoarse today. I think I even yelled "Woot! Woot!" at some point.
I've always leaned towards the Surly Gurlies for my favorite team, and after last night there is no doubt I am a fan of those lovely, tough pirate ladies. Those girls fought a hard game last night and even though they didn't win, they did an outstanding job.
We sat next to the boyfriend of one of the jammers for the Gurlies, Hippy's Revenge. He was really nice explaining the game to the newbies and sharing some insights about the inner workings of the team. Nicest guy with a blue mohawk ever.
Next month's bout is going to be outside which I think will be so good! Last time the bout was outside it was a wee bit cold but it's getting warmer and warmer every day here, so and outdoor game will be nice before we are all forced to bathe in SPF 90 and hibernate indoors.
Finally! A sport I can support and get into.Last night I went to the Arizona Roller Derby. Tough hot chicks. Short skirts. Fishnets. Roller Skates. Why can't all sports be this interesting?It was great fun. The chicks are cool and sometimes vicious. Plus there were lots of interesting people to people watch.One thing I found is it's pretty frickin' hard taking pictures of the roller girls in motion. Or standing still for that matter. Maybe it's the photographer. Nah. I think I'll just blame it on the camera. Too bad PhotoShop doesn't have a "fuck up fixer" tool.I'm still a little confused about how the ladies score, but I have one month until the next game to figure it out so I can truly be a fan.But which team should I support. I bought buttons for both teams playing last night and just clapped and cheered whenever other people did. But I feel to be a trye sports fanatic, I should have a favorite team. One I support. There are four here. And with player names like Sis Boom Barbie, Bea Naughty, Paige Burner, Jenna Jammerson (number 38DD!), Micky Dismantle and Mal Vicious, how's a fella to choose?(Seriously, these are totally drag queen names! Am I right?)Also, it seems there is a tournament in Tucson at the end of February. Twenty leagues from around the country will be playing. I may just have to drag a certain archaeologist to go with me.
On my way to work, on the morning I woke up at 4:30 am for no reason, I remember that that night I was going to the Nickel Creek concert. So that meant that after work I'd have to haul ass to get home, scarf down a granola bar or something and get to the theater in time to stand in line and wait to stand on a hard concrete floor for hours while people got drunk on cheap beer around me.
It was soooo worth it.
Mainly I wanted to go to hear the opening act, Mr. Andrew Bird. I saw him awhile ago when he opened for Ani Difranco and he blew me away. He is just the cutest. This adorable tiny little man. I wanted to fold him up and put him in my pocket.
After the Ani concert I bought his last album and have been crushing on it hard ever since. It's amazing to see him perform live. He plays the violin and guitar and loops a few bars of music with a sound board or something he controls with his feet and plays on top of what he just played. It's quite a sight to see.
He is also one mean whistler.
Nickel Creek were awesome. They are so talented. It was pretty cool to see so many people there for a group who get very little if any radio exposure. They rocked the mic and did many crowd-pleasing covers included one I had no idea was a cover or who it was orignally by until my friend Thomas told me afterwards. You can here a version of it here.
I am sooooo obsessed with Savage Chickens. Simple line drawings coupled with dry comedy. Pure genius. And who doesn't love chicken?
Not that they need any promotion, but do yourself a favor and check out Josh & Josh Are Rich and Famous. They are like a hip, new show on The WB only funny and smart.
I was shopping at Wild Oats one day and decided to explore the nutritional supplement/natural beauty care section to check out the competition. I stopped to look at the colognes. Now, I'm not a big fan of cologne. It smells nice but usually gives me a sneezing fit. But then I saw these. I remembered The Roommate™ has a bottle of this. It smells like an Orange Cremecicle. I decided to try Laundromat and Dirt and have been very happy with both. I like wearing them together. I call it Dirty Laundry.
Around the office, everyone is obsessed with a Tomato, Corn and Basil Soup I make. I've given the recipe to many folks and they all love it. It's super easy to make and very yummy. However, I can not take credit for it. I'm only the messenger. You can find it here.
Womenfolk recently turned one. If you haven't checked it out before you should. It's got some really good stuff.
Papal Adam merchandise is always a sure hit. Stock up on the official memorabilia of His Holiness today. I love when people ask me about my messenger bag. I base their reactions against my barometer of cool. Sadly, some just don't get the joke. Papal Adam says they are going to burn in hell with the Religious Right®.
I hate the reality television craze. It's repugnant and offends me. Okay,
that's a little strong. I don't give it much thought actually. I'm just feeling
melodramatic today.
I think like with most fads, it ends up producing crappy rip-off after crappy rip-off.
I admit to watching a few programs. I watched the first season of Survivor, but
haven't seen any since. I faithfully watched four seasons of The Real World, but
then turned off my cable. During the summer, I sometimes tune into Big Brother,
the laziest of all reality shows, when I am bored. (All they do is lay around on
Ikea furniture and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.) I am proud to say I
never watch American Idol. (It is repugnant and offends me.) When I work
from home, I usually watch Starting Over. (I'm currently fascinated with Amy's
hair. Have they ever talked about her hair on the show or shown her dyeing it? I
love her but I want the makeover chick Andy to just hold her down and dunk her
head in a bucket of Nice & Easy.)
So, I admit to watching some, but it is rare. (Lately, it's rare I watch any
television at all. I don't seem to have the attention span anymore.)
Just let me say I am so excited about Monday's premiere of PBS's Colonial
House. I love that PBS jumped on the reality show craze, but has somehow made it
educational as well as entertaining and I'll admit: it appears more cultured.
I
simply adored FronTier House a couple years ago. I was so hooked. My
favorite part was on the first episode when the mother from California
practically had a break down when she was told she couldn't wear make up because
only actors and prostitutes wore make up in that time.
Manor House was another load of fun. I was so happy they showed all episodes
marathon style during a weekend. I laid on the sofa all weekend and watched the
scullery maids drop like flies. I wanted to kick the little boys of the manor
and their dad was a pompous ass I figured needed little training on being a rude
overlord to his staff.
Colonial House looks like it is going to be great fun. There are about two dozen
people living by the strict rules of 1628. I can't wait to see the first public
punishment. (Bring on the stockade!) A couple of the indentured servants are
gay, so it will be interesting to see how they react to life pre-17th century.
I don't know why I enjoy these programs so much. I'm not a history buff, nor do
I want to be. Maybe it's the whole dressing up and playing a part aspect. It's
adults playing make believe and dress up.
Nah. It's definitely the public punishments. Gotta love that.
I started this little old weblog in October of 2001. (Yes, I know the
archives start in November 2001. I deleted the first many posts I published.)
Over the last few years, I have read a lot of bitching and moaning about
Blogger. Some of it may be justified and some of it may just be bellyaching for
the sake of complaining, but I've always stuck with Blogger through thick and
thin. When they launched Blogger Pro, I signed up. When they offered Blog*Spot
Plus, I signed up. Many people have jumped on the Movable Type train. I've
considered it a few times, but it's really not an option for me. It sounds like
a wonderful tool and I'd love to try it out sometime, but I've always been very satisfied
with Blogger.
It's had certain limitations and problems in past, but I never cared about that
stuff. It has always been easy to use (as long as you don't screw up your
template...which I have done a few times) and I admit it...I'm a sucker for the
orange and white B logo. Also, it's always seemed like the underdog in the
blogging world and I love rooting for the underdog.
I really like the changes Blogger made yesterday. (Not too crazy about the
rounded logo, but eh - I'll live.) The interface (or dashboard) has a nice
layout and is super easy to understand and user friendly. I think the community
building aspect is a good step in the right direction. The comments feature is
cool. I know a lot of people will be happy about that one. Although I'll
continue to use my own template and design future ones, I like the new designs
available. Very fresh and funky. Like the Blogger of yore.
Kudos to the gang at Blogger! I think they do an outstanding job. And don't
forget, you can always watch
them hard at work.
Since
updating to Blog*Spot Plus, I
have the new handy dandy feature bStats.
Here is what I've learned from this valuable analysis.
No
one reads this weblog. I usually get one hit a day. If I'm
lucky, two. This is no surprise since I rarely receive any comments,
which could mean either no one has anything to say or I am so dull, no one
has anything to say. The low traffic could also be in correlation to
the number of times I post a month (lately 2 or 3 per month.) This
could be because either I have nothing to say or I am so dull, I have
nothing to say.
I
get a lot of hits from people looking for cheap guitars. (Duh!)
My
most popular non-commercial referrer is The Maddi. (Thank you
Maddi!)
I
get some hits from people searching for information about particular
singers. Mostly Bob
Schneider. My favorite ones are when someone is trying to find out
if a singer is gay. Apparently cheap blue guitar comes up for both
"pete yorn gay" and jonatha brooke lesbian".
[Disclaimer: cheap blue guitar is not in the habit of outing
singer-songwriters and claims no responsibility for the assumptions of its
readers. cheap blue guitar respects the privacy or all
singer-songwriters, gay or otherwise -- except the Indigo Girls, whom we
would sell our own mothers to have a few beers with.]
When
upgrading to Blogger Pro (I was on a
spree.), I received 12,500 pyRad
impressions. Not really knowing what to do with them, I decided just
to use them for the hell of it. My impressions lasted about 24 hours
and generated only 8 hits, one of which was me.
My
all time favorite referrer (a side from the dear folks at the
maddi) is using Google to search for biatch biotch.
I found a wonderful magazine at Borders this weekend. Paste
offers what they call "signs of life in music and culture". It
is chocked full of articles and interviews with some of my favorite alt, indie
and Americana artists.
In an interview with Ani DiFranco, she relates an experience she has last
April. At Carnegie Hall on April 6, she was performing a solo show. The first was exactly one year early, however she says...
"It
was a completely different city. I was a completely different
person, and I felt like I was looking out at a completely different
room." 1
She then began to recite "Self
Evident", a poem she wrote following September 11.
"I started speaking and I thought, 'What the fuck am
I doing? Where do I get the right...what am I dumping on whose lap
at this moment?" As she spoke, though, the hall became
pin-drop quiet. Somewhere in the rapt audience, high in the third
balcony, someone began to sob."
This story reminds me of the importance of art in our society and culture;
that art is not only necessary to help us express ourselves to but to help us
feel emotion and sometimes help us heal ourselves. We need art to live.
A nice side note: I was talking to my friend Karla on the phone this afternoon
and telling her about my discovery of Paste. I told her "it's like
they wrote this magazine just for me." We talked for about twenty
minutes and before we hung up she said, "I just sent you an email. Be
sure to check it when you get off the phone."
When I did, I saw Karla had ordered a year's subscription of the magazine while
we were on the phone. Isn't that sweet?
My new glasses that make my big head look
smaller.
The way my friend Kristin says "Hello
there." after I tell her it's me on the phone.
Ty
Braxton for revolutionizing the way I think about my job.
My coworker who lets me call her Buttercup (as
in "What's up Buttercup?" The proper response is "The rent and I'm
not paying.") and reminds me to consider "What would Ty Braxton
do?" (WWTBD?) when I get stressed at work.
Disclaimer: This is not a well articulated post, but then again...are any of them?
