Author Archives: theotherjulie

On hearing.

I’m no audiologist, but I’m fairly certain that the process of hearing is extraordinarily complicated. And even though I know it involves all kinds of inside-your-ear stuff and nerve-stuff and brain-stuff, what gets me is the mental-conditioning part. Here’s what I mean:

How many times have you experienced this scenario?:
Friend: Are you going to the party on Thursday night?
You: Huh?
Friend: Are y–
You: Oh! Yeah. I am.

It’s not that you didn’t hear the person the first time around, it’s that your brain didn’t process it immediately. You might have been thinking of something else, or been too busy formulating a response to what you were sure they were going to say. Either way, it took a second for the sounds to make their way into your brain-innards and actually form meaningful words.

This is fascinating to me, mostly because I do it ALL THE TIME. I’m pretty sure I’m not brain damaged, so my guess is that this is a kind of conditioned response.

thoughts?

sotd 10.28.10

This is one of the saddest songs I know.

“The Drugs Don’t Work” / Ben Harper (1999)

This is a cover of the original from The Verve in 1997. Hear the as-beautiful original here.

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sotd 10.26.10

This song makes every other city in the country jealous of New York.

“Empire State of Mind” / Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys (2009)

sotd 10.25.10

“For somebody who don’t drive, I’ve been all around the world
Some people say I’ve done all right for a girl.”

“Brand New Key” / Melanie (1969)

sotd 10.24.10

Sound familiar?

“You Always Make Me Smile” / Kyle Andrews (2010)

sotd 10.23.10

From Catch and Release (this movie is predictably cute, and worth viewing on cable television if you ever get the chance).

“What I Done” / Andrew Rodriguez (2007)

Television update and Terriers.

I’m a wordy so-and-so; if you want to skip to the point I’m trying to make just kindly scroll down to the bottom of this post.

A few weeks-months-or-years ago, I wrote about the fall television lineups for NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX (did I forget the CW? Oops. Here’s the rundown: A bunch of shows I do not watch about vampires and rich people and sluts and rich vampire sluts. Done and done). Now, I bet most of you have just been ready to fall off the edges of your chairs with anticipation at the update I never actually promised, eh? Well, here it is!

Julie’s Fall Television Preview Update
I am disappointed.

That’s it. No, really. I actually haven’t been following anything (on purpose) except for The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family because they’re consistently splendid. Remember how stoked I was about Hawaii Five-0? It’s okay, but haven’t exactly been roped in or anything. That whole “if all else fails I’ll just watch it on mute” idea had some merit after all. The scenery is bee-yoo-ti-ful. And, ya know, there’s the cast. 

At first I just figured that I’d since found more producitve pursuits with which to fill my evening hours; the programming itself hadn’t failed me, I just found better things to do. But then I laughed, because this is what actually happened (happens, every year): I find one show to focus my attention on, and watch it fervently. Last year it was Leverage (TNT). This year, it’s Terriers (FX).

Haven’t heard of it? It’s okay, you’re not alone. The premiere posted some disappointing numbers, maybe due to a less-than-stellar promo campaign. In fact, I – who shamelessly read every fall preview/review I could get my spindly little hands on – was only vaguely, superficially, aware it was going to air. And right now, six episodes into what is hopefully not the only season, the shows two stars, Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James, are travelling the country in a bus or something to drum up support and fans for the show.

Yeah, no shit! They’re focusing on colleges and college towns, apparently, and a few friends of mine actually met these two a bit ago on one of their “campaign” stops (was I jealous? Maaaaaaaybe. But more so now, because I hadn’t watched the show until, oh, Thursday). And I sure as hell hope it’s working, because this is some good watchin’.

I can’t remember what, exactly, prompted me to see if I could watch episodes online on Thursday, but I did. Sadly (to me), the pilot was no longer available on the FX site, so I had to settle starting with episode 2 and diving in in medias res while piecing together the story from online wikis and assorted website-ness. No matter, because without seeing the set-up, I was hooked and proceeded to watch the next two episodes.

(On a only-slight tangent, it was after this computer-usage-binge that my laptop decided to die – or, more specifically, the video card went kaput. While it seems this is a defect from the manufacturer, and something Apple has anticipated, I originally blamed Mr. Logue et al for killing my computer. My original plan was to petition him for a new one if necessary. He’s a lucky man that Charlie from the Genius Bar was able to promise me that the repairs were easy and covered under warranty).

For those of you who’ve skimmed the previous material in search of A Point To This Shit, here it is:
I finally see why these TV critics are saying that cable television is where it’s at.

Also, watch Terriers!

Moron, meet Genius.

First, to quote my mom:

“Apple genius? Oh, ha! That’s cute: ‘I’m an apple genius! I’m a banana genius! Ha! What other fruits do they have there?

So yeah. I’m sitting here at the kitchen table, having comandeered my mother’s laptop so that I can do my Important Internet Things: checking my email, checking some message boards, spitting out an inane tweet, and – of course – doing some light Facebook-ing. But why am I currently depriving my poor, sweet mother from her morning online crossword puzzles?* Because my own computer’s freakin’ broke. Or something like that.

The issue is, I presume, one of two things:
a) It could be an incredibly simple fix – something completely and totally ridiculous that probably involves a quick few keystrokes and BAM! it’s fixed, or
b) It could be the result of something bigger that might or might not be covered under my warranty (which I thought expired last week but actually doesn’t expire until next week. Phew).

And right now, I’m torn. While I sure hope whatever’s wrong doesn’t result in me selling off superfluous organs as a means of financing the repairs, I sort of dread schlepping myself over to the Apple Store and having someone who’s been certified as a “genius” tell me I just don’t have it plugged in right (or something to that effect). It’s a pride thing, really. I’m not by any means a computer “person,” but I’d like to think that I’m not completely functionally retarded when it comes to these machines. I mean, is it weird that I can imagine this Genius thinking to himself that if I can’t even figure out this simple problem, I have no business owning such a beautiful piece of computery?

This is where the Rational Part of my brain says: really?  Do I actually care what he thinks? The answer to this is, of course, no. But rationally comprehending that whatever this person thinks has absolutely no affect on me doesn’t stop me from hoping that all this hoopla of making an appointment at this “genius bar” will not be a waste of time for either of us.

Stay tuned, I guess!
*I did ask first. I’m not a total biatch.

sotd 10.21.10

Happy Birthday to Manfred Mann… 70 years young.

Love this video. Wish I’d been there.

“Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)” / Manfred Mann (1968)

p.s. “Cup of meat”?