the sloppy copy

Happy Pi Day!

Enjoy this completely not-pie-related ditty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUSd_RYnxAY

“Sea Cruise” / Frankie Ford (1960)

Hey! Look at me, mixing things up!
But no, not really.
These are just some ideas to streamline / organize this giant trainwreck of a blog, and to encourage my more-regular posting. Of course, this is subject to change (especially the gimmicky titles I’m presently pulling out of my ass) and I’m always taking ideas on how to make this site more appealing. So here you go: here’s what I’m thinking so far (note room for additions). Please tell me what you think, especially how I could fill out the holes in posting.

Sunday:
* Introduction to the week’s SOTD theme (if there is one) and solicitation for ideas for future SOTDs

Monday:
* SOTD
* Monday Review: recommendations on movies, television, books and websites (not music, I’ll be doing that every damn day)… provided you share my weird and cheap tastes in such things

Tuesday:
* SOTD
* true Tuesday: Me writing about stuff that’s, you know, actually happened. Not sure how to narrow this one down yet, or even if I want to.

Wednesday:
* SOTD

Thursday:
* SOTD
* fiction Thursday: Thursday? Why not Friday? I don’t know. Go with it. This is, durrr, stuff I’m making up as I go along. Maybe I’ll get real crafty and come up with some sort of recurring story! Orrrr not.

Friday:
* SOTD
* photography Friday: Not sure if this one’s a go yet, because I’m not sure how much space I have to keep uploading pics on this site. But if I do take a stab at it, it’s self-explanatory.

Saturday:
* Best in Show – featuring asinine pictures I’ve culled from apartment- (or possibly house- ) renting websites.

So what does it take to get a good, one-word, nickname? Did he just wake up one day and think “Gordon’s an okay enough name, but you know what’d be even better? Sting!”

“Desert Rose” / Sting (1999)

For a very brief period of time I lived in an apartment that was actually a “show apartment,” meaning it was an already-furnished-and-accessorized unit that was used to sell folks on the idea of living in that particular complex. Basically, I lived in it with all my shit stacked in one corner for a week. Long story, kind of.

It was an overall lovely experience, accentuated by the whimsical decorator’s touches throughout. Decorative metal birdcages, bedspreads from 1987: you get the idea. See, I don’t have to explain. You know exactly what I’m talking about because THEY ARE ALL LIKE THIS.

I’ve recently dived head-first into Apartment Hunting Mode. I vaguely remember a time when I did this in person, and without the aid of the internet (gasp!). But times, they are a-changing’, and I’ve been logging some heavy-duty hours on Rent.com and WhateverElseComesUpInMyGoogleSearches.com. During a recent search, I realized that, among the links for Photos or Amentities, there is a veritable goldmine here just ripe for the, uh, mining.

My plan is to highlight some of my weekly favorites among these gems, in homage to (but not imitation of) the genius Catalog Living.

Par example:

"Welcome home, sweetheart. Uh, I had to sell the furniture."

Enjoy!

No Theme Week this week, folks. For now, it’s just a song I’ve had in my head all day.

Someone take me back to the early 90s NOW.

“Rhythm is a Dancer” / Snap! (1992)

I’m rounding out the Week of Sad Songs with a real tearjerker. Imagine if you didn’t speak English, and just listened to this one. You’d probably get all sniffly-nosed and teary-eyed even if you didn’t understand what she was singing.

Apparently this song is on the soundtrack for Magnolia (a movie that I have technically viewed but of which I remember roughly .04 seconds) and Jerry Maguire (of which I’ve seen the same six scenes roughly seventy times). So maybe if you think it sounds familiar, that’s where you heard it?

Or perhaps from an episode of the show “Judging Amy,” which is where I heard it first.

Or maybe you just like her music. Whatever.

It boils down to this: she’s singing to someone else, which is sad. But she’s also singing to herself, isn’t she? Double whammy heartbreaker.

Crappy vid, sorry.

“Wise Up” / Aimee Mann (1996)

With this lovely little link, Carynn reminded me that – duh! – country music is the place to go for sad songs. I could have done an entire month’s worth of Sad Country Songs, but decided to limit myself in favor of sampling from several genres.

This one’s a little different. It’s not a “my dog ran away and my woman left me and I’m weepin’ in my whiskey” kind of song. It just tells the kind of story that, unfortunately, happens a lot.

A great, sad, line: “We took one more trip around the sun / it was all make-believe in the end.”

Sorry for horribly awful video – those colors make my eyes bleed.

“Red Ragtop” / Tim McGraw (2002)

…was lookin through that great big hot mess known as Craigslist for job leads today when I caught sight of this gem:

Cue Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” as I read further…

 






Oh. Damn.

Let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t actually put money on these.

Well, I did make most of the picks hastily, and without really thinking…

Anyway, of my 24 predictions, 8 were correct:

attaboy, Aaron!

Best Picture (“The King’s Speech”)
Actor in a Leading Role (Colin Firth)
Actor in a Supporting Role (Christian Bale)
Animated Feature Film (“Toy Story 3”)
Music – Original Score (“The Social Network” – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
Short fim – live action (“God of Love”)
Sound mixing (“Inception”)
Writing – adapted screenplay (Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network”)

Better luck next year, eh?