Where the heck have I been?

Surfing around, I stumbled upon this site that generates a map of all of the countries that you've traveled to. So, here's where I've been:

With the size of the map, all of the European countries that I've visited are jumbled together. And you can barely see St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas.

Or, if you've never ventured outside of the US, you can break it down by state. Full disclosure: I have only spent a few hours in Florida during a layover on a trip to Puerto Rico, but I'm counting it as "visited."

Apparently, I have an aversion to Kentucky.

Kind of makes me want to get a Winnebago so that I can put the maps on the back.

Credit Due: Digital Musings

Make your mama proud

Blog buddy Flirt in a Skirt is having her "Flirt Gives!" Charity Day. For every comment left on today's post at her blog, she'll donate $1 to an as yet unspecified charity (you can leave a suggestion with your comment). So head on over there and leave a comment. It's probably the quickest (and cheapest) way you will ever give to charity, aside from dropping a few pennies in the jar at 7-11.

Happy (Iraqi) Election Day!

Today is a historic day, as Iraqis take to the polls. This will surely lead to their one day being able to vote for a new M&M color. Or the most totally awesome video on TRL.



Seriously, this is a great day.

Dr. Atkins' only crime was curiosity

This Salon.com article looks at the nerd appeal of low carb diets. One systems analyst puts it this way:

"The low-carb thing is essentially a way of forcing control over the metabolism much like coders, geeks and hackers tweak their code and config files to make their machines run smoother."

That's got to be one of the geekiest things that I've read in a while. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch The Return of the King (extended edition) for the eighth time while I play The Sims 2 (and blog).

This is kind of like studying for the bar, right?

Yet another short online quiz, only this one is law themed. That's gotta count for something.





take the WHAT INTENTIONAL TORT ARE YOU test.



Credit due: a discontent malcontent

Friday mash-up round up

For those not in the know, a mash-up is when two or more songs are combined to make a new song (i.e., the instrumental of one song, the vocals from another). Sometimes cheesy. Usually illegal. But there are some gems out there:

A Night at the Hip Hopera: The Kleptones have put this together and it is great. Lots of Queen mixed with pretty much everything under the sun. You can find a list of all the sources used here. Recently, Disney clamped down on this one, but you can still find mirrors of it here, here, and here.

Yoshimi Battles the Hip Hop Robots: Another mix by the Kleptones, but this one melds the instrumentals from the Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots with a bunch of hip-hop a capellas (Beastie Boys, 50 Cent, The Pharcyde, Public Enemy, etc.). Quality stuff. I've only been able to find it via bit torrent (the link is here).

Bootmixed: This one's more of a party type one, it seems. Really, who can resist a combination of Nine Inch Nails and Ace of Base?

The Beastles: Ever wonder what it'd sound like if the Beatles jammed with the Beastie Boys? Here you go.

Jay-Z vs. _______: It seems that everybody and their mother has made a Black Album mash-up. stevevt over at DVD Talk has compiled a list of them over here.

That should get you through the weekend.

I wonder if they know "Free Bird"

Okay, seriously, I've got to get these guys to play my bar mitzvah. Or my 30th out in Vegas. Or something. They keep pushing my love over the borderline.

(Thanks again to Memmer for the heads-up)

The emperor has new clothes

Maybe you've noticed that my blog has a new template. I liked the old cookie-cutter Blogger one, but I wanted to be somewhat different from the pack. I just stumbled upon this free skin. It's only temporary, though. Hopefully, in the future I'll purchase one exclusively designed for me.

Until then, lay it on me. Keep this skin? Ditch it and go back to the old one? Change it (I'll definitely need assistance doing that)?

EDIT: Okay, I've played around with the blog and put up two new templates: a green one and one with hula girls on it. I'm not sure which one I will choose to use. Both are easier to read than the red and blue one, though.

Crush of the Week: Scarlett Johansson

This week's crush is actress Scarlett Johansson. Now, usually these posts are reserved for women who aren't traditionally seen as sex symbols. But then the latest issue of Esquire arrived in my mailbox and WOW! I've only seen her in Lost in Translation, but thought she did a great job in that movie.



Ah, what the hell. Bonus pic:



The rest of the images can be found at Esquire.

Happy Burns Night

It's that time of year where we celebrate Scotland's favorite poet - Burns Night!


Not Robert Burns

If you're in the DC metro area, stop by Scotland Yard in Old Town Alexandria for some fine cuisine. Tonight's the only night of the year that they serve haggis.

"Catwoman" gets 11 nominations!

The 2004 Oscar nominees were announced this morning. There was no love for my favorite movie of the year, Garden State. Oh, well. I've been saying it for months now - believe the hype about Jamie Foxx's performance in Ray. One movie that I've been wanting to see is Sideways, but now my appetite is really whetted. Million Dollar Baby holds little appeal to me, but I may have to check it out. I've yet to check out The Aviator. Lastly, Fahrenheit 911 didn't receive one nomination, not even best documentary. Maybe there's still hope for Hollywood, after all.

The end of my Dr. Phil-less streak and speed reading Crichton

I've gone to great lengths to avoid any exposure to Dr. Phil over the years. Well, it wasn't that hard - mainly it involved just changing the channel. But as I was flipping around today, I actually stopped on his show and watched the whole damn thing. Why? Because Bill Cosby was his guest. In addition to being a very funny fellow ("Right!"), Cos seems to be one of the few people making any sense when talking about (and acknowledging) the problems within the African-American community. It is a shame that he's attacked when he talks about personal responsibility and such. So, anyway, my Dr. Phil-free streak is over. 'Tis a sad day, indeed.

I also went to the library today to pick up some books that I had on reserve. The first is Hollywood Interrupted by Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner, which is about the rising lunacy in the Hollywood celebrity culture. The other book that I got is State of Fear by Michael Crichton. I hadn't read a book of his since The Lost World, but when I'd heard that this was about the fear mongering on the part of the global warming crowd, I knew that I had to read it (what are the chances Hollywood will make this into a movie?). While the loan period for the first book is the standard 28 days, the latter I can only have out for two weeks since it's a current bestseller. Usually I take my time when reading a book (read: extremely slow), unless I'm thoroughly engrossed (Wouk's Don't Stop the Carnival). This is not really the best time for me to start reading a new book, what with my studying for the bar exam. But I think that I'll at least start it.

Johnny Carson 1925-2005

Weird, wild stuff.

And in the third act the Cobra Kai rumbles with the Jets

You knew it was only a matter of time: Karate Kid: The Musical. (Seems like its engagement has already run, but there's some music available for download.)

Anyone that knows me knows that musicals really aren't my bag, baby. There are a few that I like: South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Little Shop of Horrors. Those have some really catchy songs. Something about all the characters breaking out into song just seems cheesy, though. But with lyrics like this, I think that I can tolerate it:

I'm the evil sensei
It's my evil dojo
I teach evil karate
I'm evil as a mofo

Oh, and there's also a Silence of the Lambs musical.

Ohio's spirits raised

According to this press release, sales and consumption of liquor in Ohio reached a record high in 2004. The top selling liquors in the state:

1. Kamchatka Vodka
2. Jack Daniels #7 Black Label Tennessee Whiskey
3. Bacardi Light-Dry Rum
4. Jagermeister
5. Absolut Vodka
6. Black Velvet Canadian Whiskey
7. Jim Beam Straight Bourbon
8. Captain Morgan Spiced Gold
9. Korski Vodka
10. Seagrams Crown Royal

What - no Boone's? Actually, that's technically classified as a "wine," much like Ashlee Simpson's performances are considered "singing." The biggest surprise is that Jagermeister ranks #4, when it wasn't even in the top 25 in 2002. The lesson: Ohioans love doing shots. Another thing you can take away from the above list is that we dig our cheap-ass supermarket vodka.

As with the Brad and Jennifer split, I take full responsibility for the rise in alchol consumption in the Buckeye State. You see, 2004 held several alcohol-soaked events in my life:

1. Third year law school exams
2. Graduation from law school
3. Took the bar exam
4. Didn't pass the bar exam
5. Threw and attended some great parties
6. Went to Vegas a couple of times (yeah yeah, I wasn't in Ohio, but boy did I consume)

The remainder of the state's consumption probably has something to do with the Buckeye's mostly shitty football season (and their beating of Michigan) and all of the presidential race stumping. You'd drink, too, if you had to hear a well-educated northeastern Senator trying to appear folksy by saying, "can I get me a huntin' license here?" Not to mention navigating the God-awful traffic created by Bush's weekly rallies in the state.

With a little luck (and some mixers), we can make 2005 the biggest drinking year yet. After all, I will be taking the bar exam again.

(Thanks to Memmer for notifying me that we're all lushes.)

I will not negotiate with pop culture terrorists

This snowy afternoon I was driving home from my bar exam review class, pumping the Grosse Point Blank soundtrack. It contains classics from such artists as the Violent Femmes, Pete Townshend, and the Clash. Just a great album all around. There I was rocking out to Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" when I had a realization: no matter how bad ass this song is (arguably the crown gem in Queen's catalog; Bowie's second best after "Space Oddity"), most people under 35 will instantly think of one thing when they hear those seven opening bass notes: "Ice Ice Baby." Now, I'm a big proponent of sampling when done creatively, but Vanilla Ice has forever tarnished the names of Messrs. Mercury and Bowie by his use of that riff. Surely, this violates some part of the Geneva Convention. There are certain remakes, samples, and misconceptions that serve only to devestate our entertainment and fashion landscapes.

In order to free the hearts and minds of the current population and to ensure the good taste of future generations, I propose that we institute pop culture interment camps. Those detained will be re-educated, A Clockwork Orange style. Some of the issues (read: Truths) on the plate:

1. Ice Cube made much better music when he hated whitey.
2. Trucker hats weren't cool the first time around. They're not cool now.
3. Everytime someone calls Kenny G's music "jazz" the baby Miles Davis cries.
4. Zombies don't run.
5. The Black Eyed Peas made two great hip-hop albums, which didn't sell. Then they hired a naked hoochie and dumbed down their music. This is called "selling out."
6. Believe it or not, Eddie Murphy was funny before he made movies for kids (notable exception: Donkey).
7. If you are seemingly doing an aerobics routine on stage, you are not a "singer." You are an "entertainer."
8. When you buy a Che Guevara t-shirt, you betray your trendy socialist ideals on several different levels.
9. Just because a movie is quirky, doesn't mean it is funny. I'm looking at you, Napoleon Dynamite.
10. There are two eras of the Beach Boys, both defined by its key member: Brian Wilson and John Stamos. One of these men was a genius deserving of his rank in the American music pantheon. The other banged Rebecca Romijn.
11. Uma Thurman is not attractive.
12. For anyone who thinks that their road to fame lies in reality TV, tell me who won Fox's Boot Camp. Or the names of the people on last night's Blind Date.
13. Han Solo shoots first.

If you know of someone who doesn't acknowledge the above, please have them report to the nearest person wearing frappuccino eyeglasses. I believe the War on Pop Culture Terror can be won during our lifetime.

Anything else to add to the curriculum?

P.J. O'Rourke's Inaugural Address

In the latest issue of the Weekly Standard, one of my favorite authors, P.J. O'Rourke, has written An Alternative Inaugural Address, framed around the Ten Commandments.

MY FELLOW AMERICANS, I had intended to reach out to all of you and bring a divided nation together. But I changed my mind. America isn't divided by political ethos or ethnic origin. America isn't divided by region or religion. America is divided by jerks. Who wants to bring a bunch of jerks together with the rest of us? Let them stew in Berkeley, Boston, and Ann Arbor.

The media say that I won the election on the strength of moral values. If the other fellow had become president, would the media have said that he won the election on the strength of immoral values? For once the media would have been right.

We are all sinners. But jerks revel in their sins. You can tell by their reaction to the Ten Commandments. Post those Ten Commandments in a courthouse or a statehouse, in a public school or a public park, and the jerks go crazy. Why is that? Christians believe in the Ten Commandments. So do Muslims. Jews, too, obviously. Show the Ten Commandments to Hindus, Buddhists, Confucians, or to people with just good will and common sense and nobody says, "Whoa! That's all wrong!"

It's a funny, yet true read. I especially like the ending. Get the rest of it here.

Credit due: My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Crush of the Week: Condoleezza Rice

This week I've got a crush of Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice. She is poised to become the most attractive cabinet member ever, aside from Jack Kemp.



Give 'em hell, Condi.

Great Google-ly moogly!

One great thing about having the Site Meter is that I can check and see how people stumble upon my modest blog. I especially like seeing the Google and Yahoo searches that bring people here. Plenty (literally tens of people) have come here looking for Kathy Griffin Christmas poem or Quaker rice cake woman. Earlier today I had someone looking for penguin Connecticut Restoration Hardware. But I have two favorites:

beard hockey players pics - A weird fetish, perhaps, but who am I to judge? What brought that particular person here was a comment by blogging-buddy Kate, who was putting together a connection between my not shaving during exam time and hockey players doing the same when they reach the playoffs.

huge sweatermeat - This one's just classic. I've long been a "smut enthusiast," but now I've apparently attained "smut peddler" status (via Blogger). How refreshing! That search term was actually used by Kate the Great when she made a comment about Dolly Parton's, uh, talent(s).

Enjoy Micah World: your one-stop place to find pictures of bearded hockey players with huge sweatermeat.

Women like men who make petit fours, too

According to this article, 90% of the women surveyed think "men who like cats are nicer, more caring, and more sensitive than men who don't have cats." Well, maybe so, but I think a man's ownership of a cat is more detrimental to his getting a date than owning a copy of Gone With the Wind. Bad boys don't own cats.

I like cats a lot. Growing up, there was always at least one cat in our household at any givent time. My brother's cats are really cool (my sister's cat is not, though). But I'm not planning on getting one until I'm married. I've got enough strikes against me as it is.

24 Hour Party People Part II

6:23 PM - Well, it took me 47 hours and 36 minutes, but I finished season one of 24. I was riveted! Bring on season 2. Just a few observations:

-Boy, everyone's relatively fresh-faced for being up for 24+ hours. Last summer my buddies and I were up for over 30 hours straight for my best friend's bachelor party in Vegas and we all were super sluggish and barely coherent towards the end. Of course, entering a nudie bar at night and leaving in broad daylight will do that to you.
-Dennis Hopper's accent was laughable.
-Although very cute, Kim is an idiot. If she were a real person I'd say thank God for that ass, because she's not going to get through life with her brains. And, really, how many times in one day can someone be kidnapped/held against her will?
-Sen. Palmer's wife is a Class A-1 Royal Queen of the Harpies.
-Every time I heard the name Chappelle (the top CTU guy - I think), all I could think of was "I'm rich, beyotch!"
-Nina: I didn't see that coming at all. When I start season 2, I'm not going to trust anyone.
-Why is Kiefer Sutherland's introduction to season one on disc 6?
-And what kind of name is "Kiefer"?

Okay, I'm in dire need of a shower.

My favorite photograph

I'll be pretty much wrapped up in 24 for the next 20 hours, so today's post will feature my favorite photograph ever. Some people go for the WWII soldier kissing his girl. Others dig the one of the Cambodian guy with a gun to his head. My favorite photo is of jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon...



I love black and white photos of jazz musicians. They just remind me of a bygone era of cool. I like this one the best. I'm not a smoker*, but the cigarette smoke just makes this picture. The photo is used for the cover of his Ballads compilation, which I highly recommend checking out.

*Although I am a fierce advocate for the rights of private property owners, but I'll save my rant against the Nanny State smoking bans for another day.

24 Hour Party People

After watching 24 for the first time last week, I've got to say that I am hooked on this show. I really want to get caught up on the previous seasons before the current one gets too far along, just in case they throw in a storyline that requires knowledge of the show's past.

My grandiose plan was to knock out all of season one of 24 over the next couple of days - a social butterly I am not, at least not for this weekend. This marathon viewing was all going to be chronicled on the blog (boy, am I a dork). I went to Blockbuster to rent the six DVDs and every one was in stock except for the second one. So, that put a kink in my plans and I just got the first volume to watch tonight. Sure, I could've gone to Hollywood Video to look for the second disc, but I've amassed a lot of credit at BB from trading in a bunch of DVDs and video games a while back. Hopefully, disc 2 will be back in stock when I return disc 1 tomorrow. Or maybe I'll get too wrapped up in this series, decide to screw BB, and head over to HV.

(BTW, aside from being a Happy Mondays song, the title of this post is also a movie every music geek should watch.)

EDIT: 10:01 PM - Just finished the first disc. I could definitely go for another episode or two. I'll be returning this baby in the morning and hunting down the rest.

EDIT: 11:41 AM - Thanks to a friend of a friend (see comments), I'm borrowing the entire first season set. The marathon shall continue...

If you're reading this in 2055, I am already dead

I just took one of those "when will I die?" tests here. The testmakers' methods weren't disclosed, but supposedly this is the brainchild of a couple of folks at the Harvard math department. Anyway, it predicts that I'll die in November 2054, likely of cancer. But hey, the average life span is 72.5 years and I made it all the way to 79.3 years. Celebrate good times - C'MON!

You know, if things stay the same way that they are now I don't think I want to live to 79.3 years of age. Picture your grandpa sitting there alone, playing video games, browsing for porn, blowing his Social Security check on music and movies, and living vicariously through your friend's grandparent's marriage. Hopefully, I'll have a dog.

Itchier than freeballin' in burlap pants

I have a tradition that dates back to high school where I don't shave* for the duration of exam time (studying and the actual test). Currently, I'm studying for the bar exam, so I'm a wooly beast once again - and this beard itches. But it's only for another month and a half.

I think just for shits and giggles I'll keep the mustache for a day or two after the bar. I figure that I'll look like, as George Costanza says, an out of work porn actor.

*except for my throat; I don't want to look too nasty.

A tribute to Shelby Starner

Looking for something to listen to while I cooked dinner last night, I went through my music library and selected a CD that I hadn't heard in ages: a three track promo by then-fifteen year old singer/songwriter Shelby Starner. It served to plug her upcoming 1998 album From in the Shadows and I most likely got it during my stint as music director of my college's radio station. After dinner I hit my absolute favorite internet time waster - the All Music Guide - to see what she's been up to lately. My jaw dropped when I read the following:

Starner's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and Starner decided to retreat from music to refocus her life around her family. Not long after, she entered treatment for bulimia. Starner continued treatment over the next two years, but tragically Starner's body gave in to the detriments of her long bout with bulimia and she died on June 22, 2003 only two months before she was to begin her freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh.

I wasn't in a "glass case of emotion" (as I am EVERY time I watch Big Fish), but I did get a little lump in my throat. It's a weird feeling to get emotional over the death of someone you don't even know. It rarely happens to me. The deaths of Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Stewart, Bradley Nowell (of Sublime), Jam Master Jay (of Run-DMC) - these are all people that I admired and/or enjoyed their works, but their deaths elicited little more than a "that's a real shame" from me. So, I can't explain why I felt this way last night. Strange.



A google search for Starner brought up 50 pages of results and I went through them all. There was no real substantive information about her. A fansite that hadn't been updated since 1999 here. A brief mention of her passing by a friend there. That's about it. So, I figured I'd use this post as a tribute to a talented life cut too short. Her songwriting and voice belied her young age.

I will send an mp3 of her song "You" to anyone that wants it - just leave your e-mail address in a comment to this post. It's a sad, but pretty song with just some strings and her on piano.

Crush of the Week: Rachael Harris

This week's crush is Rachael Harris - actress, Best Week Ever and I Love the (insert decade here) contributor, former Daily Show correspondent, and current Quaker rice cake shill. According to IMDB, she grew up in the town where I now reside (I've got an "in" - ha!). This equation's not tough, folks: funny + glasses = HAWT!



Best Chick Ever. Photo courtesy of the Rachael Harris Web Site.

This week's horoscope from the Onion

Virgo: There seems to be a universal force that balances out the good and bad events in our lives. Don't worry about it, though, as nothing ever happens to you.

The Onion (or at least its horoscopes) never fails to bring the funny.

Scarlett O'Hara is a be-yotch

...and Rhett Butler's a P.I.M.P! It's a rainy, messy day in C-Bus so I figured that I'd pull out the four disc collector's edition DVD set of Gone With the Wind. The restoration is absolutely gorgeous. You'd never be able to tell that the movie was made in 1939. The lush score and theme is, as John Kerry would say, seared - SEARED - into my brain. What else can I say about the film that hasn't already been said a million times? It's a classic - and it appeals to my Southern born, bred, and educated manner.

No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.

Anyway, I'm at the intermission point right now. Watching a masterpiece like this kind of makes me feel ghetto for watching (and enjoying) Pootie Tang yesterday ("sine your pitty on the runny kine").

EDIT: A friend of mine just left a comment, which brings up an issue concerning GWTW. Last year I stated that I was excited to get this DVD set to two of my friends who will go nameless (Mindy and Memmer!) on two separate occasions. Both of them had the exact same response: "you might not want to tell people that."

I thought that was a weird reaction. I chalked it up to both of them being born, raised, educated, and currently residing in Ohio. They don't have the same romantic notions of the South that I have. GWTW is a classic with many different elements. The last thing that I'd consider it to be is a "chick flick."

So, I leave it up to you folks. Is GWTW a girly movie?

Dusting off Ray of Light

I've got about an estimated 1600 CDs (not including CD-Rs), so I obviously don't have time to listen to them all. I do like to dust off ones that I haven't listened to in a while, though. The other day I brought out Madonna's Ray of Light.



Now, I'm not a huge fan of Madonna, but I am a huge fan of this album. When I first heard it I was blown away. I enjoyed a lot of her past singles, but this saw her adapting (like she always does) to a music genre that I was completely into at the time - electronica. And she did it well. Credit is due to her producer William Orbit for successfully blending the organic and artificial. Try and tell me that, after hearing the sonic swell towards the end, "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" isn't her best post-80s song (FYI, her best 80s era song: "Like a Prayer"). Nostalgia plays some role in my love of this album. It reminds me of college, driving down to New Orleans with friends (including spydrz and Shamrock) for spring break. Ah, good times.

Her subsequent releases failed to captured the same magic for me. Music and its embrace of electro was okay, although I'm not a huge fan of the production by Mirwais. And American Life? Let's just say an overtly political and rapping Madonna is not a good thing.

Reconnecting with reality...TV, that is

I once used to dig reality television. I religiously watched the weekend marathons of The Real World seasons 2 and 3. Boot Camp was a dumb, guilty pleasure. Then came Joe Millionaire, whose ending made me feel like I wasted weeks of my life. Sure, I watched the Average Joe shows, liked 10 Things I Hate About You, and caught parts of the last season of The Surreal Life. Overall, though, I hate the genre. My feelings were confirmed last week when I stumbled upon some extremely insipid dating show (Yo, Can I Come In? or some title equally stupid) where the contestant's "coaches" gave a great argument why eighteen year olds should not be able to vote.

But tonight I'm dipping into the reality TV well once again: A&E's Caesars 24/7. I love and am fascinated by the city of Las Vegas. For a while I flirted with the idea of moving out there to attend culinary school, but thought better of it (although, I may rekindle that notion once the ol' mid-life crisis sets in). I'm not looking for any real insight tonight. But there's bound to be a lot of hot women. And it'll hopefully provide a Vegas fix until the next time that I can make it out there (hello, 30th birthday). I'm just going to sit back, have a glass of Speyburn, and get lost in extremely attractive people who are ugly and dead on the inside.

I'm also going to give VH1's Celebrity Fit Club a try next week simply because Biz Markie is the shiznit. He can do no wrong.

The rise of sitcom actors who break lawn chairs

There's an article posted over at Slate in which the author bemoans the growing trend among sitcoms where actors such as Kevin James and Jim Belushi are paired up with much more attractive (and slimmer) TV spouses. A blow to feminism? Schlubby male fantasy? You decide.

Frankly, this is nothing new. You can trace this back to Ralph and Alice on "The Honeymooners," if not farther. But I do recognize it becoming more prevalent. For years now I have maintained that "The King of Queens" is the best sci-fi show on TV, though. It makes me laugh, but the Big Guy to Hot Chick ratio on that show is off the charts and not grounded in reality. A guy can dream, though...

Credit due: Best Week Ever blog

You can blame me

So, is it merely a coincidence that right before hearing the news about the split between Brad Pitt (Cool World, The Devil's Own) and Jennifer Aniston (Leprechaun, Ferris Bueller TV spin-off), I watched two mediocre movies for the first time - Bruce Almighty and Along Came Polly - both starring JA as the female lead? I think not. I am only beginning to realize the extent of my powers. Any other celebrity couples that you want me to break up? I've got memberships to both Hollywood Video and Blockbuster, as well as access to a seemingly endless amount of HBO, Cinemax, and Starz channels.

International channel surfing

Want to see music videos from the Czech Republic? A Buddhist network from South Korea? Sports coverage from Latvia? Then wwiTV.com is your thing. It is a pretty cool site that has links to 850 television streams from across the world, although not all of them seem to be operational. It's where I go when I want to see Swedish news.

"Educated - so I can bust off on their glasses"

Got back in last night. Having a Geno's cheesesteak right before my flight was probably not the smartest idea.



Probably just going to lounge around today. Maybe go see a movie or something.

And to Phil: JOMG!!!

Crush of the Week: Nigella Lawson

This week I'm in love with English TV chef Nigella Lawson. Yummy! Here she is wearing a very apropos shirt.

Off to Filthydelphia

I'm fleeing the cold and wet weather of central Ohio for...well, more cold and wet weather in the City of Brotherly Love, Trash, and Short-Sighted Baggage Handler Unions. I may post when I reach my ultimate destination. Or I may not. Have a happy and safe Cinco de Enero.

D'oh! A deer! A female deer!

Look what I found grazing on my plants this morning. You'd think that I didn't live in the suburbs.

The biggest thing to hit Japan since the A-bomb

My buddy George is pursuing an LLM over in Tokyo and has recently set up a blog detailing his wacky misadventures. Check it out:

Hasselback in Tokyo

As a warm welcoming to the blogosphere, here's one of the many funny pictures over at Engrish.com.



I was very much Merry Christmas, thanks.

The Resolution will not be televised

Despite my absolute hatred for New Year's, I've made a few of resolutions for 2005:

1) Re-establish contact with people from my past. I've already started this one, actually. I feel bad for not falling out of contact with some of these people. I've got more than a few on my list. Also included in this resolution is to maintain better contact friends and family I already talk to.
2) Drop some El-Beez. The obligatory resolution everyone makes, but I need to get to a more appropriate "dating weight." Plus, it would help to have my suits fit better when going in for job interviews.
3) Cut back on my media spending. As long as I don't have a job, I can't affored to go to Best Buy every Tuesday and drop $100 on music I'll only listen to every once in a while and movies that I thought were only passable when I saw them in the theater (if I saw them at all). Again, I've actually got a jump on this one a few weeks ago. I can wait the few weeks it takes for a used copy of a DVD to show up at Hollywood Video. And I'll just download more music, thus pissing off the RIAA.
4) Get better at writing thank-you notes. From when I was a young age, my parents instilled the importance of writing thank-you notes after receiving a gift. Lately, though, I've kind of slacked off in that department. I'm going to start by sending Christmas thank-yous out this week.
5) Learn how to tie a bow tie. Former Daily Show correspondent Mo Rocca once speculated on why men wear bow ties: "to show off the fact that they know how to tie them." Well, I now have two in my arsenal and am still clueless as to how to tie them. That'll change this year.

So, there you have it. I think that these are more or less easily obtainable. I still hate New Year's.

Reaffirming my hatred of New Year's

Had dinner last night with friends at a Japanese steakhouse. Five couples and me. New Year's continues to be my most despised holiday.

I need to take a nap.