Now they're free to bond adamantium to my skeleton

Scientists have discovered kryptonite in Serbia. Sources say that they will next try to find carbonite.

I'm your Sim

I'm plagued by two things: a huge reading pile and indecisiveness. As I finish my latest book, I turn to you, my beloved readers, to instruct me as to what tome I shall next tackle. Here are your options:

A) On the Wealth of Nations by P.J. O'Rourke
B) Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
C) Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
D) The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash by Dave Urbanski
E) Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

My reading pile is significantly bigger than just these five books (waaaaaay bigger, in fact), but the above provide a good cross section of my library and are all recent purchases/loans. And I'm in the mood to read any of them. So, direct me as to what I will read next, friends. I'll take suggestions for the next few days or so and whatever gets a plurality of votes will be the winner. It's just that easy to control my life.

Office chatter

Tonight's episode of "The Office": "Product Recall"

The office is in crisis mode when a large shipment of Dunder-Mifflin paper accidentally gets sent out with an obscene watermark.

Discuss.

Because people like to say "salsa"

This past weekend I got my culture on and saw Pink Martini play an excellent show with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. If you don't know PM (and I had only been introduced to them via my brother last month), they are an 11 piece band whose musical style is all over the map: salsa, cabaret, jazz, classical, pop. The whole night was a classy affair. Highlights include their renditions of "Que Sera Sera", "Bolero", and "Brazil". And I think that I'm in love with their lead singer China Forbes.

Do check them out if they come to your town.

There's a slew of their live performances on YouTube, including "Hey Eugene", which is the title track of their upcoming album.

"Happy Earth Day!" or "We're all gonna die!"

Happy Birthday, Gaia. I was hoping the full "Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" episode about environmental hysteria would be on YouTube, but all they had was this clip. Funny stuff, though. Hippies are always good for a laugh.

Quick movie reviews

"There is no way you can perpetrate that amount of carnage and mayhem and not incur a considerable amount of paperwork."

Hot Fuzz: As Shaun of the Dead is one of my all-time favorite movies, I was expecting greatness from Team Pegg/Wright/Frost's follow-up. And I got it. This was a very funny movie, winkingly packed with pretty much every cop movie cliche. Best of the year, thus far? Yep.

300: Another winner. Critics contend that this movie - filmed mostly in front of a greenscreen - is like watching a video game. Maybe, but it's still a spectacular visual experience. Lots of carnage and nekkid womens. And it angering up the blood of the PC folks is just icing on the very bloody cake.

The Lives of Others: This Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film is excellent. It has it all: great direction, tight script, great performances, anti-Commie message. Go see if for no other reason than to be able to say the director's name (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) during cocktail party conversations.

Ghost Rider: Sure, the trailer looked terrible. But if you go in expecting a mindless comic book movie with surprisingly good special effects, you won't be let down. It was an enjoyable (albeit LOUD) way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Plus, Eva Mendes' exquisite cleavage was on display in pretty much every scene that she was in.

Reno 911!: Miami: I love the show, but this big screen adaption just seemed like a 90 minute episode. Funny, but more of the same.

Breach: With this movie Chris Cooper pretty much cements his place as one of my favorite actors. A tension-packed spy movie that curiously contains not much spying.

Casino Royale: Much better than I had expected, but I miss the smirking Bond of old. And I still maintain that Daniel Craig looks more like a Bond villain than 007. A note to filmmakers: card playing on screen is not nearly as exciting as you think it is.

Crush of the Week: Tina Fey

This week's Crush is writer/actress/hilarious supergeek Tina Fey, currently starring on the second best sitcom currently on TV.


Love the scar.

Fellow blogger herodotus would chalk this week's selection up to my fondness for nerdy women*. And he'd be right.

*See also this post.

Great song. Funny video.

"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" by Jarvis Cocker

It's a real shame that Pulp never made much of a dent in the States. His solo debut (out since last year in the UK; to be released on 4.23 in the US) is phenomenal.

A bad day.

My prayers go out to everyone connected with today's shootings at Virginia Tech.

Requiem for tiny bubbles

R.I.P. Don Ho, 1930-2007.



I regret that I never got to see him perform. My tiki lifestyle will never be fully complete.

Office chatter

Tonight's episode of "The Office": "Safety Training"

It's safety training day as Michael and Dwight try to illuminate the true dangers of the workplace.

Discuss

(Sorry for the delay. I'm at the beach.)

Crush of the Week: the "Love You" video woman

Makes me want to buy a pick-up truck.

I thought that I'd try something new and post a video Crush (mainly because I can't find any pictures of her). Now, I'm not usually one to go for much contemporary country music, but I am totally digging Jack Ingram's* "Love You". Even better is the video. There's just something about a PYT going all apeshit and doing some hefty property damage. It's pretty much the hottest thing since Rachael Legih Cook went medieval in that anti-drug PSA.

*Do check out his 2002 album Electric. Great stuff.

Micah World Top 26

Here they are, the top 25 songs burning up my iPod (as of 4.10.06):

1. "Flathead" - The Fratellis
2. "You Know I'm No Good" - Amy Winehouse
3. "Fuck Me Pumps" - Amy Winehouse
4. "Dammit" - Blink 182
5. "Ladies and Gentlemen...'The Let's-Go-Out-Tonites'" - Butch Walker
6. "Rich People Die Unhappy" - Butch Walker
7. "Punk Rock Girl" - The Dead Milkmen
8. "A View to a Kill" - Duran Duran
9. "Hey Julie" - Fountains of Wayne
10. "Cuntry Boys and City Girls" - The Fratellis
11. "Whistle for the Choir" - The Fratellis
12. "Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night" - The Fratellis
13. "God's Cop" - Happy Mondays
14. "Monster" - Meg & Dia
15. "Grace Kelly" - Mika
16. "Slam (Bionyx Remix)" - Onyx
17. "P Control" - Prince
18. "Baby's Got a Temper" - The Prodigy
19. "Black Coffee in Bed" - Squeeze
20. "The Waiting" - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
21. "More Than This" - Roxy Music
22. "White Lines (Don't Do It)" - Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel
23. "The Humpty Dance" - Digital Underground
24. "Cult of Personality" - Living Colour
25. "The Good Life" - Weezer

A bunch of changes since the last chart, mainly due to my love for the Fratellis disc. ONYX HIT YOU IN THE FACE!

Watch out, Larry the Cable Guy

You're all on notice.

Credit due: Kris

"You went to PAAS or you went to HELL!"

Since it's Easter and all, here's Patton Oswalt's classic bit about coloring eggs. (Want it peppered with cuss words? part I, part II)

Happy Easter!

"Some things in life are bad..."

Happy Easter!

Best TV week ever

"America, which I invented..."

The gods of television really smiled down upon us this Easter week. I can't remember there being such great programming since the halcyon days of TGIF. In the past 5 (and future 2) days we've had (will have) the following:

"24" - Okay, not the strongest start. After all, this is shaping up to be the show's worst season. But Jack Bauer is like comfort food. Very intense comfort food.

"Heroes" - Granted, I haven't watched it since it took a break in '06 (it's in the same time slot as Jack), but it is no doubt up to something good. (I plan on getting caught up either online or through DVD)

"South Park" - An Easter-themed show spoofing The Da Vinci Code. Any episode centered on Randy Marsh is tops in my book.

"The Shield" - Oh, man. It's finally back...with a whopper. Shane gets suicidal. A house is full of dead bodies. Kavanaugh plants evidence against Vic. Spoiler alert!

"The Office" - A hilarious return to form for my favorite show currently on the air. This episode was on par with those of the stellar second season. Dwight Schrute. Pepper spray. 'Nuff said.

"30 Rock" - The best new show you're not watching. "Boy it's crazy to think we used to settle questions of panternity by dunking a woman in water until she admited she made it all up. Different time, the sixties."

"Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" - This week's show: "Breast Hysteria". As if this series didn't already have plenty of gratuitous boobage.

"The Simpsons", "King of the Hill", "Family Guy", and "American Dad" - All repeats, but still.

"The Sopranos" - Finally.

"Entourage" - Double finally.

And then there's the Masters and opening week for baseball. Golf and baseball...my two favorite sports to nap to. And that's a compliment.

Movies on TCM: Dead Poets Society, Seven Samurai, and The Bad News Bears. The only thing missing is Ben-Hur.

Social interacton. Family fellowship. Books. Who needs 'em?

Office chatter

Tonight's episode of "The Office": "The Negotiation"

Salary negotiations drive Michael to think about his own pay.

Discuss

7 songs I'm digging

So, jasdye tagged me, requesting seven songs that I'm digging right now. Without further - or any, really - ado, here they are:

"Rich People Die Unhappy" - Butch Walker A countryish song that practically demands a bottle of Jack as an accompaniment. It's the perfect song for my current financial state. I mean, c'mon: "Rich people die unhappy/that's what daddy said/but I never believed him/while drunk in the head/with our television dinners/and a broken TV set/money makes you happy I bet"

"Modern Love" - The Last Town Chorus A slow-as-molasses take on the Bowie classic. I hear it was used in that hospital drama all the chicks like.

"Sad Bomber" - The Asylum Street Spankers If you're not into this band, you should be. I'll let the chorus speak for itself: "Ever since the night you blew me off/I'm blowin' up the town/I'm volatile and hard to handle/since you put me down/they call me the Sad Bomber/but I'm happy as a clown/'cause ever since the night you blew me off/I'm blowin' up the town"

"Never Be Rude To An Arab" - Monty Python Because it made my co-workers laugh. A lot.

"Grace Kelly" - Mika Don't believe the naysayers. It's the Single of the Summer.

"Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night" - The Fratellis So. Damn. Catchy. It's as if the Beatles were a Scottish garage band.

"St. Augustine" - Band of Horses Thanks for recommendation, Reg.

Okay, I'll only tag a few: Reggie, Herodotus, and Kate the Great. CHALLENGE!

And another thing...

More co-worker downtime ponderings:

On what basis does Garfield have to hate Mondays? He doesn't work or have any other non-cat obligations.

And why does Jon put up with his shit? Odie...I can understand. That dog's mentally retarded and doesn't know any better than to take Garfield's abuse. But Jon could easily put the cat down.

It just doesn't make sense.

Don't get me started on Andy Capp.

Go Bucks!

It's going to be tough. I don't think I can handle losing two national championships to Florida in one year.