I’m not sure I can think of a better song for the intro of Rob & Big than this one. Also, skip the vid. Just give it a listen.
“Best friend” / Harry Nilsson (1998) <— that’s right! Mr. N never released the song as a single, even after it was used as the theme for “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.” / trivial info
Chinese food makes me hungry, I don’t know about you…
“Summer Girls” / LFO (1999)
There seems to be some sort of ‘trend’* in television and film that glorifies average females and their quirkily-endearing nighttime rituals: the flannel pajamas, the zit ointment, the retainers, the whole Liz Lemon-y shebang…The point being that there is somehow perfection in the imperfection. The Folks Watching At Home see these images and “relate” to them – Hey, I pull my hair back in a scrunchie from seventh grade when I’m washing my face at night, too! – when, of course, the reality is that these same women appear perfect during the fictionalized day.
So if Hollywood says it’s okay, that it’s a natural part of being a Woman, it’s okay…right?
Mmmm. Not quite. I don’t care how many Julia Roberts’ses’s (sp?) and Scarlett Johanssens there are on screen Nair-ing their upper lips or using prescription-strength deodorant – none of this is actually “okay” until us Regular Gals are among our Regular Gal Pals, commiserating and comparing brands of stretch-mark cream and concealer.
Granted, there are always exceptions. I love my flannel pajamas. I will not pretend to hate my flannel pajamas, nor will I lie and say they are not my daily nighttime wear. Also: in a few weeks I’ll be heading back to New Dentist’s office (note: she’s so awesome! If you live near me and want the name of a super-awesome dentist message me!) to pick up a bite-guard-thingie that I’ll wear at night so I don’t grind my teeth down to little teeth-nubbins. And there is no shame in my game.
Before I visited Dr. Awesome’s office (awe-fice? Too much?), I’d had one of these sexy contraptions made for my mouth, but it had put in its hard time and paid its debt to my face. After its life expectancy came and went, I was sans dentist for a bit and didn’t have a new one made up. I’d also never heard of anyone else having one, and thought I must have some sort of super-jaw-grinding-strength.
Until Dr. A, of course. When I brought up the possibility of having one made, she lit up and she, the hygienist, and myself launched into a discussion about how great these things were. The Front Desk Lady (unsure of her actual title, other than Awesome Front Desk Lady) also chimed in when I went to pay. “Oh, you’ll love it!” she bubbled (literally – if I were to dump water on her head she would probably begin to effervesce). Basically, every single person working in this office uses one, and now I am soon to be a member of their little Night Guard Society.
I use this as an example because if I’d been self-conscious or unsure of this thing before, I’m sure my doubts would have been allayed by knowing that everyone and their sister has one… in Real Life, that is. Seeing someone on TV pop one into their mouth before bed would not have made me feel better.
See, you can try to make yourself appear normal, Hollywood. But we’re on to you. Oh, and P.S.: I don’t care if Famous Actress endorses Proactiv – she has a team of makeup artists that can make her look beautiful (and she’s probably not shopping for her makeup at Walgreen’s) so what’s the point?
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*I have no way of actually substantiating this, and can provide few examples, but I figure if it’s something that’s stuck in the craw of my subconscious mind I must’ve seen it somewhere, eh?
This song has been in my head all day, but I have no idea why. Oh, nice video btw.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCQ0vDAbF7s
“Shiny Happy People” / R.E.M. (1991)
Heard this on the radio on Wednesday night during the Longest Trip To Wendy’s Ever (seriously: the closest one is, like, a 20 minute drive. Woe is me, woe is me).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqrZnGgP_hg
“Let me clear my throat” / DJ Kool (1994)
Just because. Also, doesn’t the guy at the bottom look like someone you should know? One of those faces, I mean.
“Turn Down Day” / The Cyrkle (1966)
My baby brother? He has his moments. Like a few nights ago, for instance. He was going to the store to pick up some liquor and asked if I’d like anything. Back in the days when he was just a youngster who depended on his big sis to stock him up, I’d just surprise him and bring home whatever looked good on the shelf (read: whatever I saw first. I have a paranoid thing about loitering in liquor stores. I don’t like to “linger,” as it were. Aaaanyway). That night, he offered to return the favor. “Do you want to be surprised?” he asked. “Sure,” I said, only about 13% interested.
And so he returned, bearing a weird little bottle of stuff I’d never a) seen before or b) even heard of before. It was called “barenjager,” and it was apparently some sort of honey-based German monstrosity.
Pukey puke puker puke. Ew.
Yes, I said monstrosity. I usually give new and exotic hard alcohols the benefit of the doubt; if I do not like it at first, it’s probably because it doesn’t taste like the Kool-Aid my taste buds want it to. So I’ll give it a few tries before I pass judgment. Fair enough, eh?
But this stuff. Oh. God.
Baby Bro took a sip first. His reaction was intense and coupled with a sort of uncontrollable groaning sound. “Oh… man…” were the only words he could utter. This from the kid who drinks Everclear (another thing about which I’m unusually paranoid; a part of my brain is convinced that if I take even one sip of the stuff, my heart will immediately stop beating and my insides will explode. Why? I have no idea). As soon as he was able to regain motor function, he passed me the bottle.
Bottoms up, I guess, and down the hatch it went.
And up the hatch it almost immediately came. No, for serious. I can only remember ONE other time that I’ve gagged on food or drink – and it involved eating fish that was served whole, eyes and scales and all. Yech. But this stuff? This “barenjager”? I’m pretty sure that’s a sound that Germans make right before they lose their sauerkraut.
I’d take a plate of that scaly fish over this stuff any day. Hell, I’d drink straight Jager (blech!) before I’ll touch that shit again.
So why was it so bad? I’m not sure that I could even begin to tell you. There exist in this world folks who are deemed “expert tasters” (excellent Post-Dispatch article here!) and I’d like to think that my palate isn’t completely off, but I am unable to articulate just what, exactly, turned my stomach so upon ingesting (It also doesn’t help that I’m completely unwilling to take even just one more sip for comparison. No. Thank. You). Just… imagine the most foul food or drink you’ve ever tasted (post your answer for funsies, because I’m curious!). Honey-flavored gasoline: That’s basically what I’m dealing with here.
Uh, that said… anyone in the market for a bottle?
* I think this means “I do not like honey gasoline!” in German, but BabelFish sometimes lies.
I’ve seen Closer, but I can’t remember if I liked it or not. Hmmm.
“The Blower’s Daughter” / Damien Rice (2001)
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,500 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 377 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 477 posts. There were 76 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 28mb. That’s about a picture per week.
The busiest day of the year was December 17th with 70 views. The most popular post that day was An(other) Open Letter..
The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, my.yahoo.com, thenerdherd.conforums.com, alphainventions.com, and twitter.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for http://www.theotherjulie.wordpress, kadeem harrison, joe biden, terriers fx, and alex o’loughlin.
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
An(other) Open Letter. December 2010
Who am I? June 2008
Holiday Greetings. December 2010
3 comments
touchy-feely-extra-weepy November 2010
Poll results, part un: Adventures as a crossing guard November 2010
Ignore the video (side note: looks like someone downloaded new fonts! omg omg omg!!!!!!111). Instead imaginee Mr. Timberlake singing this in your own head.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIaiXmm1H0o
“What goes around…comes around” / Justin Timberlake (2006)
the sloppy copy 