this post is rated arggggg

Sunday, the American government rescued one of its servicemen from pirates. We shot 3 pirates down in the process. What? Pirates? Is this a movie, or have we gone back in time about 500 years?

But really, pirates are making a comeback. I mean obviously some bootlegger got a hold of all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, screened them to some sailors in Somalia, and bam! Pirates galore. Except in real life Pirate hostages/attacks/etc aren’t as cute as Johnny Depp makes them seem. Especially in this era, they don’t really fit in well with the whole international laws trend that countries and most people have been following lately.

But America will not take these Pirates lying down. It's much easier to best them while standing up. This graph, courtesy of the big.crush. tumblr, gives us an idea of how President Obama is going to deal with Pirates:


(click on graph to see full image)

Obama confirmed his position in a press conference my day dream today, saying that the United States "will not negotiate with Pirates." He might have said more, but his remarks were interrupted when a pirate in the audience stood up, removed his peg leg and hurled it at our Executive in Chief.

But in real life, the Pirates pledged to get even and have hijacked 4 more ships since Sunday's rescue. They attacked a fifth ship today with rifles and hand grenades, but failed to capture it. Meanwhile the United States is "reviewing it's options, including whether to go into pirate villages." (courtesy of ABC News). Why does this seem like it's more and more like a video game and/or summer blockbuster?

I guess only time will tell what will happen next with these Pirate hooligans and their bounties, but one thing's definite—there is going to be a Pirate reality show coming out within the next year. And it's gonna be awesome...

Letter to Trojan

You know those people who send ridiculous letters to companies and then those letters get posted to the Internet because they are absurd and funny? Well today one of my friends sent me a message that said:

Want to see what I'm doing at work?

To which I replied:
Yes.

Then I was sent this fine specimen of complaint letter:

To Whom It May Concern:

I recently purchased a box of 12 Trojan Brand Latex Condoms – Ultra Ribbed with Spermicidal Lubricant. Shortly thereafter, I realized that one of the condom wrappers inside did not actually contain a condom. The wrapper is sealed with nothing inside. I was very disappointed to learn that, although I paid for 12 condoms, I only received 11.

I am enclosing this empty, sealed wrapper for you to understand what I mean and the flap from the box in which it was enclosed. Anything you can do to remedy this situation would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration to this matter.

Best regards,
my friend (who will remain anonymous.)

There are several reasons why I love this complaint letter. One, it involves condoms which is always funny, right?? Two, I think it's funny that since one of the condoms was missing from this twelve pack, my friend felt the need to take time out of her day to write a formal complaint to Trojan. Most people would just say "oh well," and move onto the other 11 condoms. But not my friend. She wants her money's worth. And is determined to get it.

Kudos to her.

And kudos to America. I will keep you posted on the outcome of her missing condom debacle.

World's Smallest Horse!

Ha so I read an article online about the tiniest animals in the world... My favorite was the world's tiniest horse, Thumbelina. She's so small it makes me laugh! She is only seventeen inches tall. Toddlers couldn't even ride her probably. She isn't very functional at all. But she sure is cute!



Things I would do if Thumbelina the tiny horse belonged to me:

1. Dress her up
2. Let people take photos with her for one dollar.
3. Make movies starring her.
4. Teach her how to maneuver through obstacle courses.
5. Use her as a foot rest when I am sitting in a chair

Fantasy Baseball Draft!

So I don’t know all that much about baseball. That’s why I thought it would be a great idea to join a fantasy baseball league where the entry fee is $100 per team! This is for two reasons: 1 – fantasy sport research gives me something to do during downtime at work, and 2 – I have a weird gambling problem despite the fact that I have no disposable income to feed it with. The chances of me winning this league are 1 in 10 (because there are 10 teams), but really all I am hoping for is not to embarrass myself and end up in last place.

Last night we had the draft for this league. I was really nervous and excited all at the same time! I had the fifth overall pick, not too shabby… There were so many dudes I wanted on my team, and I got some of them! I also made some picks that were questionable, based on the reaction from the guys. But its okay, I am a girl after all. And I really did just pick Mark Buehrle because his name sounds ridiculously similar to mine. But whatever.

Anyways, here is my squad I hand picked round-by-round (because everyone cares SO MUCH):

1- Jose Reyes, SS
2 – Evan Longoria, 3B
3 – Matt Holliday, OF
4 – Roy Oswalt, SP
5 – Vlad Guerrero, OF
6- A.J. Burnett, SP
7 – Derrek Lee, 1B
8 – Ryan Doumit, C
9 – Francisco Rodriguez, RP
10 – Jose Valverde, RP
11 – Dan Ugga, 2B
12 – Jhonny Peralta, SS
13 – Mark Buehrle (my guy!!!), SP
14- Xavier Nady, OF
15, Heath Bell, RP
16 – Adrian Beltre, 3B
17 – Gil Meche, SP
18 – Mike Cameron, OF
19 – Huston Street, RP
20 – Milton Bradley – OF
21 - Hiroki Kuroda, SP
22 – Joel Hanrahan, SP, RP
23 – Rickie Weeks, 2B
24 – Jose Guillen, OF
25 – Latroy Hawkins, RP (this pick was mocked and I understand why. Whatever, I can drop him…)

And there you have it! A team of winners. With a little luck and a lot of baseball playing, this could turn out to be our year.

Now I’m just countin’ down the hours til opening day!!!

Feel free to post your comments about my awesome (or crappy) draft picks. But since my mom is usually the only person to post, I don’t think there will be many comments. Ha.

five movies

I saw this thing on Facebook where people pick the 5 movies they could watch over and over and over again… I decided I would try to pick mine. A few were easy… I had to think harder about the rest –

1. A League of Their Own
“Gracefully, and grandfully…”

If you’ve read my other posts about this movie, you’ll see I’m a big fan. This is the only movie I’ll ever quote and then say, “What movie is that from?” (hint for anyone who hangs out with me). I mean, it’s got it all – humor, sports, war, romance, family, death, life, a tragic ending… I cannot get enough of this movie. But you probably never want to watch it with me, it might get irritating when I’m saying all the lines along with the characters…

2. Get Over It
“Down here we call it pocketful of ass”
One of the dumbest movies ever. And no one really knows about it, I don’t even remember how we stumbled upon it in high school, but what a find it was. And boy did we watch it a lot… haha. Gotta love Martin Short as Dr. Desmond Forest-Oats, Fine Arts CHAIR, and all that hoopla…And you can’t hate any movie that features Sisqo as a high school student named Dennis who is on stage crew. If you haven’t seen it, do it now. But just a heads up – don’t be expecting an Academy Award winner. Sometimes you just need a silly movie to get some laughs in.

3. The Notebook
“If you’re a bird, I’m a bird”
Oh man, first time I saw this movie was freshman year of college and it was a CRYFEST! People can say it’s corny or whatever they want to say, but it makes me feel something when I watch it, and it GETS ME EVERY TIME. It’s heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. And that scene where Allie visits Noah and they go on the boat, then it starts raining and they KISS and DO IT is so steamy.

Love it.

4. Love and Basketball
“All's fair in love and basketball.”
This is another sappy one, but I love it. It’s like if me and Joey Catalano were black, and fell in love in high school, then went to the same college and then dated but broke up and then he hurt his knee and then I played in the WNBA and he came to watch with our kid. Except not at all. This movie is great though, also always gets me with the sad part. Especially when she challenges him to ball for his heart. Oh man, tear factory… Maybe I’m biased because I’m a sport lover, but I think this movie’s great – also some pretty sexy scenes (strip basketball, anyone?). I’m proud to have it on my list of 5.

5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
“You don’t need to put your P in a V right now.”
“No, I need to B my L on some T’s”

I had to throw a more recent movie onto my list, and what better one than Sarah Marshall? I think it’s so funny, and I’ve enjoyed watching it like 5 times already. And I still could go for more. It’s like your standard romantic comedy, but weirder, dirtier and in a tropical location! How much better could it get? Plus I have a weird awkward non-crush on Jason Segel, which started with this movie. Hopefully I Love You, Man will solidify this crush when I see it.

So that’s it. My five movies. Most people would look at this list and say, WORST LIST EVER. But not me. These movies could keep me entertained for many hours and many years to come…

And FYI, if the list were 6 instead of 5 – I’d throw some Wayne’s World on that fire!'

Feel free to post your fav five movies to comments...

Where the Wild Things Are - Trailer

This movie looks like its gonna be awesome!

News of the Day!

world war 2 historian

It’s time for some Madness…

The brackets are out! The brackets are out! That means one thing – lots of pools, predictions and people who know nothing about college basketball choosing random schools based on familiarity (Duke), the coolness of their name (Gonzaga), or their pretty uniforms (UNC).

I for one love choosing teams for the tournament… even though I don’t follow college basketball really throughout the season. But it’s easy right? The high seeds usually go farther for the most part, pick a couple upsets for the first few rounds and pick one Cinderella to get to the Sweet 16. Then keep it simple, stupid. Top seeds, top seeds. I mean that’s just one way of doing it. Let’s look at a few more…

The Crazy Fan Approach
Your team’s going all the way, no matter what. It’s like the kid at Binghamton picking them to go all the way, even with a first round matchup with Duke. Or the diehard Dukey picking them all the way every year just to have them lose early each time, even though they have a good squad.
The flaw to this way of picking teams – just because you love a team doesn’t mean they will go all the way. You need to throw allegiances aside when betting. I know this from being a Bills fan.

The Girl Approach
Famed throughout all the land, the girl approach to picking tournament winners is based on things that obviously only women can appreciate – attractiveness of players on certain teams, colors of uniforms or cuteness of mascots. Usually favors UNC’s baby blue uniforms, or any furry animal mascot. (***note –mascots should never be taken lightly.
The flaw to this way of picking teams – although there are various flaws to this system, like the fact that the criteria picks are based on have absolutely nothing to do with quality of basketball teams, this method is a tried and true approach and works a lot of the time. Much to the dismay of men and sports fans everywhere.

The Statistics Approach
Those who favor this approach don’t like luck. They like good, hard facts. So they won’t base their picks on anything but statistics. For instance, if a number 12 seed scores 77 points per game, usually beats opponents by more than 7 points, and has a coach that has been to the tournament at least once before, they are more likely to upset a team in the first round. So on and so forth.
The flaw to this way of picking teams - this may give you the best percentage chance of winning, but the Tournament is CRAZY and anything can happen. And you don’t get the same rush of being right when you just based all your picks on numbers…

Top Seeds, all the way to the Final Four
There are other teams that aren’t the highest seeds? Who cares… There’s a reason these teams are ranked at the top – they are better than everyone else. And there’s no way Chattanooga has a chance against UCONN. I’ll stick with the big guns, thanks.
The flaw with this system of picking teams – it’s March Madness Baby! Anything can happen, and nothing’s better than a nice Cinderella story…

Random Tandem

There is no rhyme or reason to how you pick teams, it’s all about what you feel in your bones. You’re a gambler by nature and you love the rush of writing down upsets and putting all sorts of money down on your bracket. You have an addictive personality and gamble far too much for the amount of disposable income you earn. You are me.
The flaw to this way of picking teams: you spend too much money and usually lose… but when you win – IT’S AWESOME BABY!

Good luck with your brackets, and enjoy watching some of the best basketball you’ll see all year (these college teams actually play defense! – take note, NBA)

Twitter me this?

Twitter seems to be the new technology of choice that everyone decided to write about this week (and by everyone I mean there are articles in Time Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and my cousin mentioned something about Shaq Twittering. And my mom emailed me to ask if I Twitter. Wow, I guess that is a lot of Twitter buzz for a few days). Anyways, the answer is NO, I do not twitter. I have far too many words to say to just Twitter. I’m a WRITER, with big IDEAS that can’t just be limited to the 145 or something word limit that Twitter makes you succumb to. Though I really enjoyed reading some of the celeb blog snippets that were in the articles I read about Twitter. But really, what’s the point of Twitter? Why do people want to put their random-ass thoughts on the Internets for the world to see?

Wait a minute…I gotta go…

Getcha Popcorn Ready…

Yesterday I was given a piece of news that stunned me to the core. My beloved Buffalo Bills have signed Terrell Owens, NFL’s notorious bad-boy receiver to their roster? What a weird turn of events. Buffalo isn’t really known for signing flashy, needy superstars. And the last time we housed one, he dissed Buffalo women making us happy to get him the hell out of wingtown, USA (yeah I’m talking about you, McGahee. jerkstore…) So why pick up T.O. now, right after a lengthy list of teams who DID NOT WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIM was published?

At first I was confused, then annoyed and sad. Bills, how can you do this to the fans? We don’t know what to do. And bringing in a receiver that is well known for giving his quarterbacks a hard time probably isn’t going to do wonders for young up-and-comer Trent Edward’s confidence. But the more I think about it, the more I wonder…maybe T.O. and the Bills will be a good fit.

To have a weapon like T.O. lined up across from a lesser appreciated but just as strong weapon like Lee Evans will serve to really help out Edwards with plenty of passing targets. And if Marshawn Lynch keeps up his BEAST MODE running (and stays out of jail), the Bills offense might actually be a force to reckon with this season. And with a pretty consistently strong defensive unit, and consistently amazing special teams, the Bills might really make me wanna SHOUT this season …

When I talked to my dad about the T.O. news, he talked about how the guy’s usually good all season then his attitude/etc will get a team in trouble come playoff time. My reply – the Bills never make the playoffs, so he won’t be able to do that here…but kidding aside, maybe, just maybe, the hardworking attitude of the Buffalo Bills will rub off on one Mr. Terrell Owens and every Bills fans playoff dreams will come true.

It’s still early, and I’m still digesting this crazy news, but I’ll tell you one thing – I’ve got my popcorn ready. And my beer, too.

GO BILLS

just some drawings...

From Flip Flop Flyin'. Drawings made using the Brushes application on the iPhone. Pretty cool

subway thoughts.

Sometimes I wish that I could record the thoughts I am having in my head, so I don’t have to write them down later. But that would probably involve weird machinery and privacy issues and all sorts of stuff like that and I would rather just have to write my thoughts down than have all of them saved forever…

But I digress. The reason I wanted to record my thoughts in the first place is so I could remember all the weird stuff that happens to me on subway rides that is either funny, scary, irritating or in some way entertaining enough for me to want to share with the humble readers of this blog.

Like today, on the way to work, this fully grown man was listening to his iPod and BLASTING none other than the Jonas Brothers Band. I’m not sure if he was aware that everyone else on the subway car could clearly hear the song, or if he just didn’t care, but I found it quite amusing.

I also think it’s really funny when large people try to squeeze into small spaces. I’m not discriminating against large people, nor am I expressly speaking of large people, I think it’s funny when anyone tries to fit into spaces that are too small for them. But in particular, when a large person is wearing a bubble jacket, a huge backpack and carrying two big shopping bags, it makes me giggle internally when they try to squeeze into the smallest space of seating left in the subway car. That happened today as well.

…I can’t think of anything else right now! NUTS! Too bad I can’t record my thoughts or this post would be much longer… oh and on a Debbie Downer note, something I HATE when I’m on the subway is when I am standing up and the person sitting down in front of me is getting off at the next stop but they get up as the train is stopping and act like I’m very much in their way instead of just waiting until it stops so I can let go of the handrail without falling over since I’ve been STANDING for the last 20 minutes while you sat on your ass.

Feel free to post your favorite subway moments/mishaps to comments.

back to reality

goodbye florida...


hello new jersey

This is my 100th Post!

What a centennial feat! 100 blog posts! Hooray! I will celebrate with this fun game:

make your own random album cover!

STEPS:

1. Get the name of your band by using the first article title on the Wikipedia Random Articles page.

2. The title of your album is the last four words of the very last quotation on the Random Quotations page.

3. The third picture in Flickr's Interesting Photos From the Last 7 Days is the cover artwork of your album.

Use photoshop or any other graphics program to put it all together and make your album cover (extra points if you use paint!)

Here's what I got -
I Can Have It, the newest album by everyone's favorite folk rock band, Walter of Châtillon, hits stores March 7th. Keep yo' eyes open for it....

And the Oscar for excellence in oscar prediction goes to.....drum roll please......

ME!




Kudos to me for getting 100% of my Oscar picks correct yesterday. That's a pretty staggering statistic, I'm quite pleased with myself. So in the self-aggrandizing spirit of the Oscars, I will congratulate myself on how good I am, tell the other nominees that they are wonderful (but not as wonderful as me apparently), and give a little speech:

Wow. Oh my god... (pause to breathe). I'm so overwhelmed... I have been dreaming of predicting the Oscars ever since I was a little girl predicting which swear word would appear in the background of my Disney movie. (pause to look at Oscar). Wow, this is heavier than I imagined! I have so many people to thank, those who've supported me along the way, Entertainment Weekly magazine, InContention blog for helping me do research for my picks, Blogger for hosting this blog where I posted my picks, my mom and dad for pushing me each and every day and believing in my power of prediction, and everyone in my Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball League for showing me that life can be made more meaningful with useless online gaming. I also want to thank (music starts playing) ... the-loyal-readers-of-my-blog-without-you-I'd-be-nothing! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

(Cue music as I saunter off the stage)

Final....Oscar Night....Predictions!

The Oscars are tonight! You know what that means, time for me to woman up and make my official day of the Oscar picks that are, yes, my final answer (note the Slumdog reference). I just watched Frost/Nixon and now am happy to say I’ve seen every Best Picture contender, though I’m not sure it will help me in any way in my predictions.

I know you’re all busy, so let’s just get to the point – here are my picks:

Best Picture
Who I Want: I’m not sure… I think I’d love it if The Reader won because I liked it more than everyone else seems to and it would just piss everyone right off.
Who Will Win (if I say it with authority it makes it seem like I know what I’m talking about): Slumdog MILLIONAIRE

Directing
Who I Want: David Fincher. I also liked Ben Button more than everyone else did. Cheers to my alternative tastes!
Who Will Win: Danny Boyle

Actor in a Leading Role
Who I Want: Sean Penn. He was amazing as Harvey Milk, a real transformation
Who Will Win: Sean Penn

Actress in a Leading Role
Who I Want: Kate Winslet
Who Will Win: Kate Winslet, though if Meryl Streep does in fact take it, I will be mad at myself for being upset about it because Streep really was phenomenal in Doubt.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Who I Want: Heath Ledger. I don’t think much more has to be said here. Amazing performance by someone who filmmaking will sorely miss.
Who Will Win: Heath Ledger

Actress in a Supporting Role
Who I Want: You know what? I can’t really say who I want to win this category. I think this is one of the hardest ones to call, and I’ve seen every performance except Penelope Cruz, who is the “front runner.” I’m going to have to say Taraji P. Henson for me, and I don’t know if I really can give you educated reasons to support my opinion.
Who Will Win: Penelope Cruz I think will win, I heard she is brilliant in the film.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Who I Want: The Reader! Read the book after I saw the movie and I think the transformation to script and screen were done very well.
Who Will Win: Slumdog MILLIONAIRE

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Who I Want: Milk. Sadly I am not super familiar with all of these noms.
Who Will Win: Milk, if only to make up for not voting it Best Picture. Those Holllywood Liberals!

Art Direction
Who I Want: Revolutionary Road. Throw the poor flick a bone, Academy.
Who Will Win: Ben Button. It was a beautiful film.

Cinematography
Who I Want: Ben Button
Who Will Win: Slumdog MILLIONAIRE

Costume Design:
Who I Want: Anyone who won’t give too long of a speech.
Who Will Win: The Duchess

Film Editing
Who I Want: Actually, after seeing Frost/Nixon today, maybe that!
Who Will Win: Slumdog MILLIONAIRE

Makeup
Who I Want: NO BRAINER. Ben Button.
Who Will Win: Ben Button

Visual Effects
Who I Want: Ben Button
Who Will Win: Ben Button

Animated Feature Film:
Who I Want: I don’t really care… is that bad?
Who Will Win: WALL E


I know there are more categories but you know what? There’s no money on this and frankly I don’t feel like much predictions anymore, even more so on things I know nothing about like docs and foreign films that I’ve never seen.

So those are my picks! Have a happy Oscar night, America. (and by America I mean my huge readership from the American general public, all 5 of you…)

Buffalo Ranked #8 Most Miserable City. Ever.

Forbes has named the 8 most miserable cities in America, and coming in at number eight is… Buffalo, NY!!

“If you like snow, Buffalo is your place--to the tune of 90 inches a year, more than any other metro area that has a million people. Buffalo's population has been steadily shrinking since the mid-1990s.”

So what, it snows! Do you know what that means? Snow days. So shove it, Forbes. And a shrinking population only means one thing. More room for the rest of us. It’s never a problem to get tickets to Buffalo sporting events, like Bills and Sabres games, so thanks for leaving town, everyone who did (including me I guess…)

I may be in NYC right now, but I still am and will always be a Buffalonian at heart. And I can tell you one thing for sure: nothing can make a person happier than Mighty Taco, Jim’s Steakout and Duff’s chicken wings.

So bang it, Buffalo.



look at that skyline

A Glamma is an older version of a hustler, of a hustler...

From my Time magazine:

Glamma n. - Glamourous grandma; one of the terms adopted by boomer grandparents in favor of more traditional names like Grandmother.

USAGE: "Boomers want to pick with grandkids will call them: Meet Glamma and Papa Doc."
-Wall Street Journal, Jan 23, 2009

put some sleeves on that blanket

I was babysitting last night. A six year old, Val. He’s a cool guy. Anyways, we were watching Hercules cartoons and the commercial for Snuggies, the blankets with sleeves, came on. First of all, I am sorry I have not posted about the Snuggie commercial before right now. Because it is golden. It is a visionary for people in advertising. It is absolutely hilarious. First of all, who came up with the idea of a blanket with sleeves in the first place? Is it too much work to wrap the blanket around oneself when cold? Do we not have articles of clothing called sweaters that already have built in sleeves when we are so cold that we need more layers of fabric to put over ourselves?

But the fact that this product exists is irrelevant. There are dummies everywhere who will buy silly things (my brother owns a Snuggie). Let’s get back to the commercial. I don’t know if the Snuggies come in various colors, or if they are only available in Monk-Maroon, because everyone in the infomercial looks like they are waiting to pray with the Dalai Lama, whether it be after the sporting event they are all high-fiving during, or when they’re done making s’mores.



I'd like to honor the copywriter of this commercial for the first few lines that rhyme. Really sucks you into the world of the Snuggie. Also, it highlights wonderfully the many things you can do with your Snuggie on, like eat a snack, use your laptop, watch tv, or even knit! All things that you can do with a normal blanket on you as well. But god forbid your arms be exposed to the air outside your blanket…

It’s perfect for men, women and children too! Just like all clothes are! It’s also ideal for those drafty dorm rooms—if you want to be ridiculed by all of your peers and probably never get laid because you’ll be known as that Snuggie kid or the idiot who wears their bathrobe backwards.

And isn’t the Snuggie really just a bathrobe that you put on backwards? Anyways, back to the commercial. And the kid I babysit. Because during this commercial he made me laugh so much and gain so much more respect for him at the same time.

So the scene appeared where the entire family is watching an outdoor sporting event in their Snuggies, and they look like a weird cult in their maroon backwards robes and they are all high-fiving each other. And the little boy starts laughing. Hysterically. At this ridiculous commercial. At the tender age of 6 this kid had more sense than my 24 year old brother. Enough to realize that the Snuggie is absolutely absurd in just about every way. It just made me laugh so much. Kids are so much smarter than adults.

I guess that’s all I have to say about the Snuggie, except I have one more qualm. The commercial says it only comes in one size – Super Large – and one size fits all. If it really is meant for men, women and children then maybe they should make a few more sizes so the little ones don’t trip over their Snuggies on the way to sporting events.

Okay I gotta go. The blanket I currently have draped over myself is shifting and its so annoying and I can’t type anymore…if only they made blankets with sleeves…

Vanity Fair Shots

Some really great photos of directors/actors by ANNIE LEIBOVITZ from March's Vanity Fair.

Fantasy Oscar Challenge!

I just entered my picks to Entertainment Weekly’s Fantasy Film Awards Challenge! See, this is a fantasy league for people who don’t like sports, they like movies. People like my brother. Ha, just thought I would shout out to one of my four readers! Hey Rusty!

Sorry for that tangent. Back to the Fantasy Film Awards Challenge. Basically, you choose who you think will win Oscars and you can win a TV and Blue Ray player if you have the most correct picks. It’s free, so why the heck not?

I don’t know if I’m hurting or helping my chances by posting my picks here, but I want bragging rights if I do well so here they are…but if I’m wrong I didn’t make any of these choices. Someone else did and then they wrote this post. Probably Rusty…

So without any further tangents here were my picks for the Fantasy Oscar Blue Ray Challenge:

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
Animated Feature: WALL-E
Adapted Screenplay: The Reader
Supporting Actress: Taraji P. Henson
Documentary Feature: Man on Wire
Original Screenplay: Milk
Actress in a Leading Role: Kate Winslet
Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn
Director: Danny Boyle
Picture: Slumdog Millionaire


Since I have no money on these picks, some are dark horses, some I am not so sure about, etc etc and I think closer to the day of the actual Oscar awards I will put together a post with my picks again, maybe they will be different, and I will try to explain why my picks are what they are. But for the time being I don’t want to give you all a leg up when you sign up to compete in this contest against me.

Good luck.

best promotion ever?

So, we're fat, America! Now I mean we could get really down on ourselves about it, or try to remedy the problem somehow. But that might take hard work, and we don't have time to be bothered with things like that. So why not just embrace it? Like at The Heart Attack Grill.

The burgers are referred to as "Single Bypass," "Double Bypass," and so on, depending on the number of patties on your burger. I think the best part of this whole restaurant theme is the promotional aspects available to them by telling it how it is. Instead of offering an apple with your Happy Meal as a lame attempt to healthify fast food, The Heart Attack Grill runs promotions like "Kill a Friend," a program where you can email your friends about the restaurant and earn points for free food.

Or this gem, which if The Grill stays open long enough, may just run them out of business if America continues in it's slippery slope towards supreme obesity -



And if you get a triple or quadruple bypass, they'll wheel you out to your car in a wheelchair after.

Now more than ever, I'm proud to be an American.

Top Five Moments of the Inauguration of Barack Obama

There’s a new President in town as of noon yesterday. So to celebrate the ringing in of a new administration, let’s take a moment and not talk politics at all. Let’s talk about the best moments of yesterday’s inauguration ceremony as seen on CNN in the 23rd room conference room here at G2 Direct & Digital. I don’t really like talking about politics or anything else that really matters on this here blog (as you have probably already discovered), so let’s just get right to it—best parts of the ceremony:

5. Aretha’s hat.


4. CNN’s “FACTS” at the bottom of the screen
I’d like to thank CNN for giving me helpful FACTS at the bottom of my screen, such as the FACT that the man giving the invocation was a supporter of an amendment banning gay marriage in California. Or the FACT that precisely at noon, Barack Obama was the new President even without being sworn in yet, thanks to the 22nd amendment. Without these fun FACTS at the bottom of my screen, I probably would have just been bored with the history unfolding before my eyes.

3. The way Rick Warren says “Malia” and “Sasha” around the 3:40 point in this video:


2. George HW Bush’s hat.


1. Cheney in a wheelchair

Movie Trailers

You know what would be a great job? Making movie trailers. I’m not certain how one gets into that profession, I’m sure through editing or working for a production company or something like that but think of all the benefits of being the person who makes trailers:

1. Maybe you get to see the movie before anyone else does (or at least the trailer clips)
2. You can make it as intense or funny as you want to (watching the trailer for Doubt always gets my blood pumping)
3. Lots of people will see the work you do and enjoy it (sometimes I am a little disappointed when the previews are over to tell you the truth)
4. Editing is fun, especially in short form. Trailers usually aren’t very long, I mean there’s really not all that much you could even mess up...
5. Choosing the music for trailers would be really awesome too. For instance, the Revolutionary Road trailer is really sexy and awfully haunting thanks to the brutally sad voice of Nina Simone in the background:


All that being said, I probably will never be a person who makes trailers. I have heard that first of all, the production company that makes the film will also just cut the trailer. And though I think it would be awesome to make a film, I don’t think I want to work for a production company for the sole purpose of maybe being able to cut a trailer someday. Or maybe I do, we’ll see…

Anyways let’s look at some other sweet trailers, in honor of the profession that I do not have.

Knocked Up:


The Dark Knight:


Atonement:


Pineapple Express:



Alright, I guess that’s all I got for now.

I love movie previews.

“This is Top Chef, not Top Scallop”

While watching Top Chef last night, some people got into a heated debate of how many times Jamie has made scallops this season, and if that amount of scallops was too much. Never having had scallops myself, I can’t really comment on their validity or if cooking with them too much would be a bad thing to do. But what I can do confidently (after some careful research of every episode’s recap), is tell you how many times Jamie has worked with scallops so far:

3 times*.

Out of the eight episodes, Jamie has cooked scallops in two of the episodes, but for both the quick fire AND elimination challenge on one night. That means if you watch any episode from this season so far, there is a 25% chance that Jamie will be working with scallops at least once. That percentage does seem quite high.

On the other hand, out of the 16 quickfire/elimination challenges that have so far occurred, if you take the three instances of scallop into account, there is only a 18.75% chance per challenge that Jamie will have scallops on her menu. This makes things seem a little less scallop-y.

So now the mystery is solved and everyone can go back to enjoying Leah and Hosea’s canoodling, Stefan’s ego, Fabio’s cute accent and Carla’s facial expressions instead of worrying about the number of mollusks being cooked.


*Notes:
The number 3 was reached through careful perusal of Top Chef season 5 episode recaps by yours truly. Each episode recap was browsed until both dishes Jamie cooked for that night were found and recorded. The findings are listed below:

Episode 1: Premiere!
Quick Fire: Cutting apples/etc.
Elimination Challenge: Pan roasted sea bass and eggplant puree with wile arugula salad

Episode 2: Getting Crafty at Craft
Quick Fire: Hot Dog Challenge
Elimination Challenge: Chilled Corn Soup

Episode 3: Thanksgiving at Foo Fighters
Quick Fire: Deconstructed Falafel Soup
Elimination Challenge: Corn Salad and Wax Beans

Episode 4: Today Show
Quick Fire: Amuse Bouche! - Egg on toast dish
Elimination Challenge: TV demo - A frisee salad with a duck egg (that does not set!)

Episode 5: Gail’s Bridal Shower
Quick Fire: Identifying the ingredients in a dish by tasting it
Elimination Challenge: Cooking for the Bridal shower. Jamie’s team is something borrowed, Jamie makes a carrot puree.

Episode 6:The 12 Days of Christmas
Quick Fire: SCALLOP on a potato-kale stew
Elimination Challenge: 7 swans a swimming: SCALLOP “swimming” in vichyssoise

Episode 7: Focus Group
Quick Fire: stone fruit Napoleon
Elimination Challenge: SCALLOPS with fennel and orange

Episode 8: Down on the Farm
Quick Fire: Bruschetta
Elimination Challenge: Chicken team, no scallops here.

Want to feel better about being a Bills Fan?

I sure do. Every year I am reduced to watching the NFL playoffs rooting solely for members of my playoff fantasy football team to succeed, with no real pride at stake nor real concern for who wins. The excitement of Super Bowls mainly consists of happiness to consume tasty snacks, drink some beer and anticipation for the most talked about commercials of the year (gotta embrace that advertising nerdiness).

When the Buffalo Bills fail to make the playoffs (as they have continued to do since 1999's horrifying Music City Miracle incident), I have no stake in the playoffs whatsoever. And sometimes, it leaves me feeling unfulfilled. But I read about some teams in my most recent TIME magazine that make me feel a little better about that 7-9 record...

First off, the Detriot Lions this year were awful. 0-16 making history baby. But besides that obvious one, Time provided some more examples of awful teams:

Philadelphia 76s, 1972-73 season
Record: 9-73
That's a win percentage of .109
Come on now, they played over 80 games and only won 9 of them. That's depressing.

NY Mets, 1962 season
Record: 40-120
They lost one hundred and twenty times?! That is so many times.

Washington Capitals, 1974-75 season
Record: 8-67-5
Yeesh. A whopping eight wins. I mean that's more than the Bills had this year but I'm hoping if the Bills had over 65 more games this season they would snagged a couple more W's.


So next time you're feeling down as a Bills fan thinking about Wide Right or the Music City Crapacle, think about the fans of these teams. At least we aren't that bad.

Movies I have seen lately

In order to make my Oscar predictions accurately and effectively I am trying to see any movie that will likely be nominated in the next few weeks. Already, thanks to a vacation from work and no real social life, I have seen the following films:

Doubt
Seven Pounds
Marley and Me
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Reader
Milk

Now, with my wealth of cinema knowledge gained from taking Cinema Production 1 in college (and watching a lot of movies), I will give you my critical assessment of each of these films.


DOUBT
“When you take a step to address wrongdoing you are taking a step away from God. But in his service.”



We’ll start with Doubt, an adaptation from a play about a nun at a Catholic School who suspects the priest there of taking advantage of a young male student. I must say that the acting in this film is stellar, Meryl Streep is very tough as the persistent head nun at the school, yet shows a vulnerability that her character is trying so hard to suppress. Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays the role of friendly, yet pretty creepy long-fingernailed priest very believably, and causes us to really doubt the harsh accusations of Streep’s nun. Amy Adams rounds out the core of main players as a young nun, caught in the middle of this conflict between two very strong characters. Her character’s struggle to cope with the consequences of taking either side in the argument is played so wonderfully by Adams with an innocence that perfectly juxtaposes Streep and Hoffman.

I enjoyed the film, although it did leave me a little unsatisfied, not by any of the performances, rather the plot. Though the name of the movie is Doubt, and we are expected to never have all details be fully disclosed to the viewer, the ambiguity of the story left something to be desired for me. It did spark conversation from a lot of people leaving the theater, yet for me endless possibilities are frustrating.

Possible nominations: Meryl Streep will definitely get a Best Actress nod, Hoffman may also get nominated. Viola Davis, who plays the mother of the boy who has a possibly inappropriate relationship with Hoffman’s priest, will probably walk away with a Best Supporting Actress nomination as well. Her powerful performance of a mother just trying to do what’s best for her son in the face of adversity of all sorts is memorable enough to catch the eye of any critic (even if the snot running down her face while she cries was really distracting to me).

The Marci-Meter

3.5 out of 5


SEVEN POUNDS
“I did something really bad once and I'm never gonna be the same.”

Oh man this movie was bad…People were leaving the theatre. Like several groups of people left the theater. In a recession. After they had spent $10 on each ticket. That tells you something. Will Smith is a great man and actor, and the last 20 minutes of this film are kind of cool (probably because you finally realize what the hell was going on for the previous 80 minutes), but it takes so long to get there that we are tired and don’t care anymore.

It’s not all bad and the plot had potential to be interesting, but the story drags on and it’s just not enough to hold the attention of the average moviegoer.

Possible nominations:
…

The Marci-Meter

1 out of 5



MARLEY AND ME
“He's just like a little kid, except you know, furrier.”

Oh man, this movie was great. I went to see it on Christmas with my mom and dad and we all LOVED IT. Probably because we have a similarly destructive dog (see banner above) so we could relate to most of the chaos happening onscreen. In fact, anyone who has ever had a dog will love this film. Some boys I talked to did not like the film because it made them cry. Here’s a newsflash – it makes everyone cry. It would make Chuck Norris cry.

Anyways, Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston play a believable couple journeying through early married life and starting their official family with the adoption of a lovable pup, Marley. I mean I don’t want to give too much away but the movie makes you laugh, cry and everything in between, all while munching happily on popcorn.

If you want to go to a movie that does not force you to think critically about a controversial social issue, the meaning of life, or makes you leave wondering what really happened behind closed doors, dish out the dough and see Marley and Me. You won’t regret it!

*Disclaimer: Non-dog lovers may find this movie irritating and dumb.

The Marci-Meter

4 out of 5

Possible nominations:
This one isn’t really an Oscar favorite…but it’s still good!


THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
“My name is Benjamin Button, and I was born under unusual circumstances. While, everyone else was agin', I was gettin' younger...”

Everyone talks about how long this movie is and blah blah blah… I think they should all shut up about it! I didn’t think that it dragged, and I am known to be fidgety in movies that bore. The movie is interesting enough to keep viewers engaged as we watch Brad Pitt age backwards and meet Cate Blanchett’s character in the middle of their lives. The tragedy of the situation is heartbreaking, and the film really makes you look at the fragility of life, lived aging either backwards or forwards.

The special effects are especially engaging as it was so amazing that we could Pitt’s features evident in his character’s face as he journeys from the body of an 80 year old man to a small boy. I read an article about how the fact that we’ve seen Pitt age from a young star into the man he is today makes it that much more impactful when we see Benjamin Button morph into a man in his young 20s, because it’s a face we’ve seen before. It really hits home on its themes of the fleetingness of both life and love.

I also really enjoyed the cinematography of this movie. It was shot beautifully; with a consistent tone that was subdued yet beautiful. It’s really emphasized if you look through still shots of the film like these for example:



Anyways, I thought this movie was well made and enjoyable. Definitely up for some nominations.

Possible Nominations: Pitt will get a Best Actor Nod, Blanchett may or may not get recognition for her role of Daisy, which I believe she played wonderfully, Fincher will get a nomination for his I think brilliant direction of this film, and Taraji P. Henson will most likely get a nom for her role as Benjamin’s generous, loving caregiver. This film is also a definite runner for best picture in my book.

The Marci-Meter:

4 out of 5


THE READER
“It doesn’t matter what I think. It doesn’t matter what I feel. The dead are still dead.”

Wow. Take a great performance by Kate Winslet, add it to a moving and thought-provoking story about love, human nature, and the controversy of a world trying to cope with the atrocities of the Holocaust, and you get a wonderful film. I was pretty blown away by The Reader, and even though it had a depressing premise, I was very moved by it.

It makes you think but not in the same way that Doubt does. Not in a way where you can think and think and never know what’s really happened. But rather it makes you think in a way where we do know exactly what has happened and now we have to try to come to terms with it individually as well as culturally.

I feel like this movie is more powerful if you go into viewing it without preconceived notions or a real sense for the plot of the movie, so I am not going to dive into the details here. But to me, this film was thought-provoking, smart, and filled with powerful performances.

Possible Nominations: Kate Winslet really should be nominated for best supporting actress, but I’m not sure if this movie will get any other nominations.

The Marci-Meter:

4 out of 5


MILK
“All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words.”



This movie tells the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to serve in public office, and I found it to be a very well acted film and inspiring. Maybe because I saw it after seeing movies for three straight days, but I also thought it dragged just a bit. But the acting was quite phenomenal, starting with Sean Penn’s portrayal of Milk. His mannerisms and overall aura were great, and the supporting cast worked brilliantly as well: Josh Brolin as fellow City Supervisor Dan White, James Franco as Milk’s first (and maybe true?) love, and Emile Hirsch as a passionate young gay activist were standouts.

For me, this movie told an exceptional story, but took a little bit too long to do so. The acting was amazing, and without the great performances I probably would have liked the film a lot less. But in all, the story itself is inspiring and captivating, making this film one that you really should see.

Possible Nominations:
This film will definitely get a best picture nod, and Sean Penn will be nominated for best actor. I also think Josh Brolin will get a nomination for best supporting actor.

The Marci-Meter

3.5 out of 5


So that wraps up the reviews of movies I have seen lately! I’ll leave you with a list of the ones I still have to catch before the Oscars…and you should too!

Gran Torino
Slumdog Millionaire
The Wrestler
Revolutionary Road
Frost/Nixon
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Changeling
Rachel Getting Married
Defiance

Kids Wear the Darndest Things

I hate growing up. When you are little, you can do just about anything you want and the consequences aren’t really huge even if you mess up. Take clothing for example. If I wore things to work that I used to wear when I was a little kid, I would be ostracized, ridiculed, fired, or all of the above.

But little kids can get away with wearing anything. Stuff that once you reach a certain age just makes you just look stupid or crazy. Or both. I found this picture of me when I was little wearing this weird leather vest with a cowboy hat, jeans with elastic bottoms and silly sneakers and it was actually cute. In a weird, ugly way.

So without further ado, here’s a look at some of my favorite little kid fashion faux pas. Things only little kids can pull off (or not even…):

Wearing pink jeans with a pink shirt.

A little girl favorite. Nothing like rocking out in the pink shirt, with the pink jeans, and if she’s feeling really ambitious, the addition of a purple scarf rounds the outfit out nicely. The perfect look for the 2-5 year old on their morning commute to preschool. The problem is, when an older woman tries to pull it off, the look leaves one feeling…weirded out? It becomes a bit tacky with age.

Dressing up in a costume when it isn’t Halloween.
I used to have superwoman pajamas with a cape that came on and off with Velcro. They were amazing. Little kids can do stuff like that. And not just with pajamas. How many times have you seen a kid in the supermarket that’s dressed like a princess or a tiger and it’s just adorable? So many times. Well, maybe not that often, but it happens! Kids play dress up whenever the hell they want to and it’s cool! Now I feel stupid enough dressing up when it’s Halloween (unless I’m being a “slutty” fill-in-the-appropriate-word-here). So here is my salute to little kids dressing up whenever they get the urge.

Light up sneakers.

LA GEAR, son. These things were seriously cool. I mean cooler than the shoes where you could pump the tongue and something in the shoe would pump up? Well maybe not that cool. Anyways, light up shoes are still alive and well even though I’m not sure if LA Lights are still around. Mostly now when I see light up shoes they accompany Dora the Explorer or Diego. They are still pretty pimp though. I can’t keep my eyes off them. Too bad little kids go to sleep before dark normally. It’s cooler walking around in those things when you can really see the lights pop.

Shaving patterns into the back of one’s head.
Basically, little boys like to shave things into their heads. NY Yankees symbols, initials, the current year…all are possible candidates to get shaven into one’s head. But once you pass middle school the only way you can really pull off anything other than racing stripes shaved into your head (and not everyone can even pull that off) is if you are a hip hop mogul. Then you can do whatever you want. You can shave things in your head and wear sunglasses that look like window shades and not care about anything because you are a hip hop mogul and you can do what you want. But other than that, most children who have the urge to express themselves through hair buzzing should get it done preferably before the age of 11? The sooner the better actually. Because it won’t always be this cute:


Rat-tails.

I am willing to bet that about 60% of all hipsters now used to rock a rat-tail. And I am also willing to bet that from this percentage, 0% regret it. Rat-tails were grossly amazing and I can’t think of one boy from my neighborhood that did not once sport that extra bit of hair gracefully hanging down the back of his neck at one time or another. Even some kids today have rat-tails. I coached a youth soccer team last year, and one kid, Peter, definitely had a rat-tail. There was also a good chance he had ADHD (or maybe I just couldn’t keep control of my youth soccer team…) Anyways, back to rat-tails. They are just another wonderful fashion option for kiddos, but unfortunately when adults have them, it’s kind of gross. And once a grown man has a rat-tail it’s a slippery slope that can lead to the all-powerful mullet.

Having a painted face.
I mean this one’s pretty self-explanatory. Small children can get their faces painted with all sorts of designs and look cute or cool or whatever. And even be proud of it. Once you’re older, the look becomes creepy. I don’t even really like when girls go to sporting events and just have a little logo painted on. I did that once. And there is one picture from that day and I regret it every time I look at that picture.



Wearing nothing at all.
Last and certainly not least, little kids always seem to run around butt naked and it’s okay. But, as you can see on the chart below, there is a direct correlation between your age and the grossness/likeliness to get arrested for said nakedness.



So as you age, it must be taken into account that you may no longer run amuck in your birthday suit without fear of social condemnation or eventual jail time.


And that concludes my list of things little kids can get away with wearing that no one else can! Feel free to leave comments of your own personal little kid fashion faux pas favorites.

If only they had something like this for food consumption…

Gmail has a new application called “Google Goggles” that helps you refrain from sending embarrassing emails when you are drunk by using mathematical puzzlers. And who said you would never use math again once you got out of high school?

Basically, before you can send an email (only on nights/times you specify as party nights), a few basic arithmetic problems come up on the screen that you must answer correctly within a short period of time in order to send the message.

Seems pretty genius, I know. I don’t think I will be utilizing this service personally, usually when I get home and I’m drunk I don’t head right over to my computer to send emotionally charged emails. Rather, I check out foods that are available for immediate consumption, or beds available to pass out in.

And even though it is the first of its kind and pretty revolutionary, I do see a few flaws with this system:
1. People who just aren’t good at math in general may be seen as drunk all the time.
2. People who are really book smart (but usually not super street smart) will easily trump the simple math problems and send their drunken messages to the world.
3. Really emotional people may damage expensive technical equipment over frustration after not being able to send their innermost uninhibited thoughts. Have we forgotten where the term “RAGING alcoholic” came from?

Anyways, it’s a funny application and I give mad kudos to its creator, as well as Gmail, mostly for it’s clever name.

But I had one more qualm with the system, though it is entirely my own fault. I was a little disappointed because at first I thought they had developed some sort of algorithm that could determine that you were typing in a drunken stupor. Like based on the amount of misspelled words, spacing problems, etc… I don’t know I’m not an algorithm scientist, it just would have been way cooler if that’s how they did it. (note to nerd somewhere: develop this algorithm. I’ll find great uses for it)

(totally unrelated note: UCLA scientists recently discovered a 13-million digit prime number. It’s the first Mersenne prime number with more than 10 million digits. I’m sorry for people doing jobs like that.)

So anyway, back to those Google Goggles. A novel idea, and I hope we see something like this soon that will send an electric shock through your body if you are trying to eat too much pizza when you’re drunk. Just kidding. When you aren’t eating enough pizza while you’re drunk.

Women Fantasy Sports Update

Very interesting article in the AM Metro today about a new site that was launched by women who are sick of their significant other spending so much time playing fantasy sports. I thought this was especially relevant and kind of amusing after my post the other day about my look at fantasy football.

The site features a place for fantasy "victims" to vent about their neglect due to the importance of fantasy sports is even selling apparel - black panties that read "CLOSED For the Fantasy Football Season." I mean, in some cases you're just hurting yourselves ladies...

I understand that fantasy sports can take up a lot of a man's time, and that once in a while you wish your man was looking up cute presents to surprise you with rather than researching the hottest defenses in the NFL, but it's a hobby. It's a way to connect with friends, and for a lot of men, there's also pride at stake. When you're getting ragged on for leaving a pitcher in your lineup who got hurt during his last start, the best defense is probably not saying it was because you didn't have time between shopping with your girl and making her dinner...

I mean I guess I am probably not the norm in terms of women and knowledge/interest in sports, but from my experience if you kind of enjoy the sports that your man is playing fantasy sports of, it's a way you can actually become closer. Watching games together, keeping up on their fantasy players and rooting their team on may not seem like fun to women, but if you do this for him maybe he'll watch a chick flick or two...

Anyways, check out the site. And for all the ladies out there who are neglected by their fantasy sports lovin' men, try to get into it with him. I bet that's one of his fantasies....

a woman’s look at fantasy football

I recently saw a newscast about fantasy football leagues, and they highlighted one such league that was comprised entirely of….women! How weird! They then showed all these young women sitting around in newly purchased Reebok NFL Women’s gear, watching a football game, referencing their laptops frequently, and making jokes about how cute Tom Brady is.

And I’m not writing this post as a feminist or anything (even though I still hold a small grudge against my high school guy friends for kicking me out of their league when it became “guys only”) because my fantasy football league kind of proves the point that female fantasy leagues are oftentimes silly. There’s only four of us in the league, and we don’t even have a draft, Yahoo does that for us… my friend had Tom Brady as her starting QB until week 5, and you can pick up just about any other league’s first round draft picks on our waiver wire. But that’s not the point, is it? I mean, we have a league! And we’re girls! Give us props.

But it is exactly the point. Our league is silly, and no one cares who wins. Last year, one of the whopping four team owners forgot her Yahoo password and so did not make one change in her lineup all season. And still won a majority of her games with her automatically drafted team led by big Tom Brady in his glory day.

But if this is possible, how do men in these leagues seem to have mediocre teams at best when they research the players, make reasonable trade offers and carefully peruse the waiver wire for viable free agents? Easy. Fantasy football is a little about picking good guys, and a lot about luck. In the NFL, as long as you step foot on the football field, you can have a good week. Sure, some weeks are better than others (6 TD passes Favre?), and some are more consistent than others (Lee Evans can make or break you), but every Sunday there’s a chance that your back up running back could have the game of his life, and you got him sitting on your fantasy bench to start Larry Johnson (held to 2 rushing yards this week…).

It’s the flip of a coin, gentlemen. I guess the moral of the story is: take some chances on your fantasy team, because they might just pay off. And if not…it’s just fantasy right?