You forgot Poland!

Deja Vu Horizon

2010-06-23T04:19:00.000-07:00

This clip is 7:54 long, but watch it anyway.

So, basically the deep-water oil drilling companies are currently using 30-year-old technology to contain the Deepwater Horizon spill.

I'm sick of seeing BP's Tony Hayward being held up as the single face of villainre in all of this. Sure, BP's involvement is egregiously negligent. But let's see Steven Newman and David J. Lesar put through the ringer. In my point of view, they're all involved, so they're ALL deserving of the same excoriation.

In 1979, it took them nine months to stop the spill coming from a well 200 feet underwater. We're now three months and 3 days into Deepwater Horizon oil spill. How long will it take them to stop this well that's 5,000 feet underwater?

Alvin Greene, GOP Plant?

2010-06-14T19:02:00.001-07:00

U.S. politics is a clusterfrench. Case in point: South Carolina Democratic primary winner, Alvin Greene. From The New York Times:

Just when it seemed political events in South Carolina couldn’t turn more bizarre, calls are mounting for investigations and for the withdrawal from the Senate race of Alvin Greene, who has become known as the “stealth candidate” after mysteriously becoming the state’s Democratic nominee on Tuesday.
On Thursday, not only did more officials urge Mr. Greene to quit the contest against Senator Jim DeMint, the Republican incumbent, but top lawmakers — like Representative James Clyburn — began suggesting that Mr. Greene was a “plant.” Mr. Clyburn, the House Democratic majority whip, also called for a federal investigation because of reports that Mr. Greene, who is on unemployment, paid more than $10,000 of his own money to enter the race.
“There were some real shenanigans going on in the South Carolina primary,” Mr. Clyburn said on a radio show. “I don’t know if he was a Republican plant; he was someone’s plant.”

What the hell? Just watch. If this guy's for real, he desperately needs media training. Among other things. Like a substantive platform. And if he is a plant, I feel sorry for this man. He's obviously too dumb enough to know that he's being used by the GOP.

Some background here.

SBUX provides free Wi-Fi

2010-06-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

To be sure, offering free wi-fi is pretty cool. But damn, is it really THAT newsworthy? Seems like all the SBUX PR folks have to do is burp out a press release and it gets picked up everywhere.

Sugartit Kitchens: You know you want some.

2010-05-31T21:34:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone!

I'm so happy and proud of my homegirls at Sugartit Kitchens, who recently scored a spot at Forage SF's Underground Farmer's Market. And what, you may be wondering, is the Underground Farmer's Market? From the Forage SF web site:

The SF Underground Market was conceived of by Iso Rabins in early December 2009. Frustrated by his inability to get a booth at legit farmers markets (to be in most farmers markets in SF you need to be certified as the primary producer of the food you sell, and since wild foraged food grows on its own, there is technically no producer), as well as amazed by the wealth of delicious professional quality food being made in Bay Area home kitchens.

The first market was held in a private home in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco, with 8 vendors, and about 200 attendees. Now at number three (at the time of this post) , It has grown to 47 vendors and over 1,200 people attending.

The SF Underground Market is an incubator. A place where budding businesses can get a leg up on their road to legitimacy.

Sugartit Kitchens will be offering the following items this Friday, June 4, from 6 p.m. to midnight:

Whoopie Pies
Cupcakes
Brown Sugar Bread & Butter Pickles
Pickled Green Beans
Apricot/Vanilla/Almond Confiture
Strawberry/Black Pepper/Mint Jam
Rhubarb/Rosemary Confiture
White Cherry/Raspberry/Absinthe Jelly
Tipsy Date Cake
Cocoa Nib Cookies

Seriously, if you can, go check out the market, and look for Sugartit Kitchens. They're two of the most fantastic, creative, charming, and talented women I know. You won't be disappointed!

SF Underground Farmer's Market

SOMArts

934 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA 94103-4906

Sugartit Kitchens will be representing to the fullest from 6 p.m. - midnight.

Pimpin' Ain't Easy

2010-05-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

Hey, look. Another congressman caught in an extramarital affair:

Mark Souder (R-Ind.)

The punchline --- and I use that term loosely since it seems to happen so frequently now that the joke's not funny anymore --- is that Souder is known as a "conservative enforcer" in Congress.

Throughout his time in Congress, Souder made his evangelical Christianity a centerpiece of his public persona. He was known for his outspoken views on religion and his uncompromising conservative positions on social issues such as abortion.
He said after a 2008 hearing on abstinence-only education that the only fully reliable way young people can protect themselves from pregnancy and STDs is by "abstaining from sex until in a committed, faithful relationship."

He and his alleged mistress, Tracy Jackson, made a video (easy tiger, not that kind) together on abstinence education. Oh, the irony.

I just want to state for the record that I don't care what you do in your personal life, except when your entire career is based on espousing a certain way of life that is in direct contrast with the way you live your own. And I find it especially offensive when you have a hand in the legislative process through which you see fit to dictate how the rest of us should live our lives.

Vile. Just vile.

(link)

So THAT'S what the sun looks like.

2010-05-18T16:57:00.003-07:00

I wouldn't know. The weather's been very weird 'round these here parts.

Not to mention the ginormous migraine that I like to call the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill Clusterfrench is giving me high blood pressure.

So I need calm down and focus on something beautiful and awe-inspiring. Like this:

The big yellow thing is the Sun. But look at the upper right section. See those two dark blips? The one on the left is the Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis and on the right is the International Space Station! Incredibly, Thierry caught them as they passed directly in front of the Sun! To give you an idea of how talented Thierry is, the entire transit lasted just over half a second.
... Mind you, Atlantis had just started its pitch maneuver, designed to show its belly to the crew on the ISS so they can inspect it for heat tile damage. That means this image was taken shortly before the Orbiter docked with the station, on May 16th. Thierry was in Madrid specifically to get this shot.
Get a good look. This is the last mission of Atlantis (unless it’s needed as a rescue mission later this year), so we won’t get too many more views like this.

Aaaah. I feel better now.

(link)

Remembering: Ian Curtis

2010-05-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

Thirty years ago today, Joy Division's lead singer Ian Curtis hung himself in his kitchen. A troubled soul, struggling with severe epilepsy, an estranged wife, a mistress and burgeoning success, his is a tragic story of yet another great talent who left this world too soon.

(Photo credit: Bernard Pierre Wolff, Appiani family tomb, Cimitero Monumentale di Staglieno, Genoa, Italy)

Red wine-fueled lament

2010-05-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

Oh, blog. How I've neglected you. I'm sorry. I have big, grandiose plans to resurrect you to your G-list status in 2010. I blame Facebook for taking all of my time and energy. And yes, while I admit the attention I received on said social networking site provided me with the short-term validation I needed at the time, I feel like there's nothing that compares with the just-as-superficial-yet-somehow-moreso-deserved validation that comes with all the effort that goes into one blog post.

I find myself at a crossroads with social media. On the one hand, keeping up to speed with the ever-changing world that is social networking and other things of its ilk is crucial, not only to the work that I do, but to my own interests as a semi-(and I use that prefix loosely) savviness with the Internets and all that, but quite frankly, I miss writing. The practice of writing something (no matter how horrible it ends up to be) on a daily basis.

Must figure out how to work this blog back into my regular day-to-day. Be patient with me, oh blog-o-mine.

Not to mention the fact that I just got out of a relationship and could use the mental, cathartic release that comes with putting words to virtual paper.

Bear with me, I promise I'll be back soon.

In Memoriam: My Grandfather

2009-11-30T19:42:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite photos of my grandparents. Minalin, Pampanga, Philippines, 1975

My grandfather passed away on Nov. 27 at the age of 89 years old.

I've always felt disconnected from my extended family back in the Philippines; not because of any family drama or anything, but really only because the geographical distance makes it very difficult to build and maintain relationships. (Let's face it; the flight to Manila makes a five-hour flight to New York seem like a nanosecond, not to mention the fact that a plane ticket can cost about a month's salary for some.) In any case; my grandparents helped raise my cousins; my memories of my grandparents consisted of stories my dad would tell me about them and the three times I've visited. But despite the distance (both literally and figuratively), I've always held a fondness in my heart for my family back there.

Thankfully, the Internet and social networking have enabled the kinds of connections I've wanted to make with my cousins. My cousin, Jon, wrote this tribute to our grandfather the other day, and after reading it, I realized that my dad --- the oldest of all the siblings --- is SO like my grandfather. I may not have had the pleasure or privilege of living with my grandparents, but my grandfather's teachings, personality, values and beliefs were mirrored in the teachings, personality, values and beliefs I've seen in my own father.

And I never felt so connected to my family than at that moment.

Heathers: The Musical

2009-03-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

Yeah, you heard me.

Ugh:

The influential 1988 teen dark comedy, which launched the careers of Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and scribe Dan Waters, is stagebound in a production being developed by Andy Fickman, director of "Race to Witch Mountain," who is making a return to his musical roots.

Fickman, who helmed the musical "Reefer Madness," is working with "Reefer" partner Kevin Murphy, who is writing the "Heathers" lyrics and the book, and composer Larry O'Keefe, who earned a Tony nomination for best score for the Broadway version of "Legally Blonde."

The trio has worked on the production under the radar for some time, even doing readings this week in Endeavor's screening room. The readings saw "Veronica Mars" star Kristen Bell playing the lead and Christian Campbell as J.D., with Jenna Leigh Green ("Wicked"), BrokeDown Cadillac lead singer Corri English and Christine Lakin (the CW's "Valentine") as the three Heathers.

[...]

The project has the blessing of [Heathers Writer Dan] Waters, who controls the underlying rights to the material. [Andy] Fickman said he sat down with Waters early on "to make sure we were on the same page" and that Waters has seen the readings.

"He understood that our goals were to be creatively attuned to his original work," said Fickman, who is repped by Endeavor and Evolution.

The film offered many over-top-moments as well as choice lines, something Fickman is eager to bring out musically.

" 'I love my dead gay son," Fickman quoted. "If you can get that into a song, then that is just perfect."

Drunken Negro Faces

2009-01-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

Ted Kefalinos, proprietor of Lafayette French Pastry in NYC's Greenwich Village, says there's nothing offensive about his Drunken Negro Face cookies. You be the judge:

Courtesy of Gothamist.

Congratulations, Mr. President

2009-01-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

(Photo credit: Damon Winter/The New York Times)

And now, the hard work begins. Let's do this. But first:

Adios, douchebag! (Photo: Saul Loeb)

Faux Foie Gras?

2009-01-06T09:42:00.001-08:00

Yeah. Good luck with that:

Worldwide Challenge to Find the Perfect Humane Alternative to a Cruel
Dish

For Immediate Release:January 5, 2009
Contact:Nicole Matthews
757-622-7382

Norfolk, Va. -- Sir Roger Moore has condemned it--and this month, top
French chef Albert Roux of London restaurant La Gavroche expressed his disgust over the force-feeding involved in its production--but foie gras lives on in gastronomy. So, PETA has a solution: Let top chefs vie to create the best faux foie gras (fatty duck or goose liver) in the world, with a prize and naming rights going to the winner.

A $10,000 prize and much publicity will go to the winning chef in
PETA's international Fine Faux Foie Gras Challenge, announced today. The winner must produce an original, purely vegetarian faux foie gras comparable in taste and texture to the real glob of prized bird fat, and it must beat out all other entries. First and second runners-up will each receive $1,000 worth of top-drawer kitchen equipment.

The winning chef--who may choose the name of his or her creation--must also agree to offer the dish on a fine-dining menu and allow PETA to distribute the recipe to chefs and media around the world. Only the recipe should be submitted; already-prepared recipes will not be accepted. (Click here for the complete list of rules.)

Foie gras is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese until they fall
ill with hepatic steatosis, which causes the liver to become painfully engorged. Investigations at foie gras farms have documented sick, dead, and dying animals. Some had holes in their necks from feeding-pipe injuries, and most were unable to walk, dragging themselves by their wings--if they moved at all. Most such birds retreat into a state of shock and fear of future feedings. Foie gras production is so cruel that it has been banned in 16 nations, including the U.K. and Israel as well as in the state of California.

"The goal of our Fine Faux Foie Gras Challenge is to give fine diners a
compassionate alternative to eating the diseased liver of a tormented bird," says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich. "It's a marvelous opportunity for a chef to create a culinary first that is delicious and won't ruffle any feathers."

For more information and the complete list of rules for the challenge,
please visit PETA.org/FauxFoieGrasChallenge.

Spam cracks me up.

2009-01-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

I've been out of the office for the last two weeks, and today is my first day back.

Our company e-mail system does this thing where they filter out all your junk e-mails and sends you a daily list of junk e-mail that it's intercepted for you. You can then review the list and unjunk any legit e-mails.

Sometimes, spam still manages to hit my inbox. What's more disturbing, though, is that the sender appears to be my own work e-mail address.

Over the last two weeks, I've received quite a few e-mails with somewhat interesting subject lines. Here's a sample:

"Stiff, long and hard rod"
"I'm so thick now she says it hurts"
"Never be flaccid again"
"Don't wait to be huge"
"Proven to work in male subjects"
"Re: Scarlett [Johansen?] did it for cash"
"Fit perfectly between her jugs"
"Women will flock like bees to honey"

And my personal favorite, "With 9 inches everything is possible."

Indeed.

Bring on 2009

2008-12-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

We (and by "we," I mean "I") here at You Forgot Poland! wish you the best in the coming year.

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-25T01:47:00.000-08:00

Everyone here at You Forgot Poland! wishes you a very merry holiday season. To those of you who still come by my humble corner of the blogosphere---including those of you who still come by for that bikini wax video---thank you very much for your presence.

I turn 36 today. It's not really hitting me yet; I have tons of stuff on my mind, both on a personal and professional level, and it's making me feel a little overwhelmed.

Needless to say, I'll have plenty of time during the the coming year to revel in the joys of being 36.

There are joys to being 36 ... right?

Aretha Does Mariah

2008-12-22T10:21:00.000-08:00

Here's a clip (from my long-lost blog love, Crunk and Disorderly) of Aretha Franklin doing a cover of Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body."

And here's another clip (courtesy of FourFour) in which the Queen of Soul offers a little commentary on the subject:

Last-Minute Holiday Shopping

2008-12-17T11:34:00.000-08:00

Looking for a unique gift to give that extra-special someone on your Xmas list?

How about meat perfume?

The Whopper sandwich is America's favorite burger. FLAME (TM) by BK(r) captures the essence of that love and gives it to you. Behold the scent of seduction, with a hint of flame-broiled meat.

Props to the fine folks at EaterSF for the heads up.

Home Alone: The Otter Edition

2008-12-16T16:06:00.000-08:00

From my new favorite blog.

Props to Tony for the heads up.

If I ever get married ...

2008-12-10T22:15:00.001-08:00

... we MUST play this game at my bridal shower:

I'm just saying.

Props to Alisa for the link!

Get well soon, Bettie

2008-12-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

This is a bummer:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bettie Page, a 1950s pinup known for her raven-haired bangs and saucy come-hither looks, was hospitalized in intensive care after suffering a heart attack, her agent said Friday.

"She's critically ill," Mark Roesler of the Curtis Management Group told The Associated Press.

He said the 85-year-old had the heart attack Tuesday and was hospitalized Friday in the Los Angeles area.

A family friend, Todd Mueller, said Page was in a coma. When asked to confirm, Roesler said, "I would not deny that," but he would not comment further on her condition.

Getting old sucks.

UPDATE, 12/11: Bettie Page passed away tonight at age 85.

(Image courtesy of Stencilry.org.)

Shop Joe

2008-12-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

I thought we'd heard the last from Samuel J. Wurzelbacher. But I was wrong.

Make of it what you will, but later this month a book [Joe the Plumber] co-wrote with relatively unknown author and publisher Thomas N. Tabback, "Fighting for the American Dream," will come out. Thousands of copies have already been pre-ordered at $24.95 each via a star-spangled website (theme: "It's about we the people, not we the government") that also offers Joe-approved merchandise and the ability, for a price, to post to its blog and forum.

[...]

"Fighting for the American Dream" is part biography and part current events, Mr. Tabback said, adding that it gives a behind-the scenes account of Mr. Wurzelbacher's encounter with Mr. Obama and what happened in the weeks that followed. It will also dip into Mr. Wurzelbacher's personal history and his take on American values.

Mr. Tabback said that the site is Mr. Wurzelbacher's new platform to give voice to those that may not have one. "[It] will help galvanize an effort for regular folks in the country to be heard on Capitol Hill and local and state governments," he said.

Joining Joe, for a fee But that will come at a cost. For $19.95, Mr. Wurzelbacher fans can become "Freedom Members" with posting rights on his blog and forum. With membership they also get a monthly newsletter from Mr. Wurzelbacher and 10% off "Shop Joe" merchandise. For that price, they also become "an integral part of an American movement to preserve our American Dream," the site claims, but what that means remains unclear.

Please, Jah. Make it stop.

Reflections on McCain's Failed Campaign

2008-12-04T18:38:00.001-08:00

I just finished reading the Rolling Stone article, "Requiem for a Maverick" by Matt Taibbi, which provides his perspective on how McCain's 2008 presidential campaign got so fucked up. Here's just a sample:

In short, McCain entered this election season being the worst thing that anyone can be, in the eyes of the Rove-school Republicans: Different. Independent. His own man. He exited the campaign on his knees, all his dignity gone, having handed the White House to the hated liberals after spending the last months of the race with numb-nuts Sarah Palin on his arm and Karl Rove's cock in his mouth. Even if you wanted to vote for him, you didn't know who you were voting for. The old McCain? The new McCain? Neither? Both?

I could have done without the Karl "Doughboy" Rove fellatio image. But interestingly --- or maybe not so interestingly, now that I think about it --- Taibbi also lays blame on the media and the rest of us for buying into all of this bullshit back when Not My President was up for election in the first place:

In short, it was an utterly degrading bourgeois/ruling-class media deception that "ordinary Americans," if they had any brains at all, ought to have been disgusted by to the point of rebellion. But ordinary Americans, alas, would have been perfectly happy to spend the rest of eternity mesmerized by the endless and endlessly condescending I'd Like to Have a Beer With You sideshow, leaving the boring policy stuff to the people who actually pay for the campaigns. Things could have just kept getting dumber and dumber, and no one would have been surprised. There was certainly no trend that suggested our presidential elections were bound to return to being great, sweepingly important contests of ideas. But that's what happened.

But it's not all entirely depressing. Taibbi ends the article, thusly:

When Obama took the stage in Grant Park as president-elect, that question was answered. We pulled off an amazing thing here, delivering on our society's most ancient promises, in front of a world that still largely thought of us as the home of Bull Connor's fire hose. This dumbed-down, degraded election process of ours has, in spite of itself and to my own extreme astonishment, brilliantly re-energized the American experiment and restored legitimacy to our status as the world's living symbol of individual freedom. We feel like ourselves again, and the floundering economy and our two stagnating wars now seem like mere logistical problems that will be overcome sooner or later, instead of horrifying symptoms of inevitable empire-decline.

For this to happen, absolutely everything had to break right. And for that we will someday owe sincere thanks to John McCain, and Sarah Palin, and George W. Bush. They not only screwed it up, they screwed it up just right.

Obviously, I'm really happy that Obama, not McCain, won the presidency. I just worry about the eight-year-old clusterfuck Obama just inherited. I don't doubt that Obama will be a successful president; I just worry about how long righting the wrongs of eight years of Bush will take. People I care about are losing their jobs; people I care about are on the verge of bankruptcy due to adjustable rate mortages; people I care about are being forced to take unpaid vacations; people I care about are unable to afford any kind of healthcare whatsoever. I remain optimistic about Obama's presidency, because I have to be; to think otherwise would leave me hopeless, jaded, cynical and completely disengaged.

Anyway, read the article in its entirety here.

Props to Otto Man at Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Nachos for the link.

Adventures in Bacon

2008-12-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

I'm simultaneously enthralled and repulsed by this:

See it in all its glory here. Props to Kenneth for the link.

Fortune Cookie Wisdom

2008-12-03T21:41:00.001-08:00

I suspect bloggers create regular features (e.g., "Random Friday _____blogging") to help prevent long periods of writer's block. It is in that spirit that I offer to you, dear reader(s), my new regular feature, Fortune Cookie Wisdom. Here's today's profound offering:

Be yourself, and you will always be in fashion.

Photo lifted from here. Inspiration from this post. Writer's block coming from who knows where.

eHarmony to allow same-sex matches

2008-11-19T11:46:00.000-08:00

Y'all already know I have no love for eHarmony. But this is interesting:

Online dating service eHarmony said Wednesday it will launch a new Web site that caters to same-sex singles as part of a discrimination settlement with New Jersey's Civil Rights Division.

The settlement is the result of a complaint New Jersey resident Eric McKinley filed against the online matchmaker in 2005.

McKinley, 46, said he was shocked when he tried to sign up for the dating site but couldn't get past the first screen because there was no option for men seeking men.

"It's very frustrating and it's very humiliating to think that other people can do it and I can't," he said. "And the only reason I can't is because I'm a gay man. That's very hurtful."

Neither the company nor its founder, Neil Clark Warren, acknowledged any liability.

Under the settlement, eHarmony will pay the New Jersey $50,000 to cover administrative costs and will pay McKinley $5,000.

Ok, fine. McKinley seems to be satisfied with the outcome --- in fact, he called it "fabulous" --- but why not just augment eHarmony as it exists today? I guess you take the small victories whenever you can get them, but I don't really see how this does anything to advance equality.

The new website will be called "Compatible Partners." Yawn.

P.S. 22 Children's Chorus, NYC

2008-11-16T16:16:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it took me so long to hear about these wonderful kids. Watch them do their version of Tori Amos' 1,000 Oceans and tell me it doesn't send a shiver down your spine.

Just look at them! They're all so into it. That's more than I can say about myself and my classmates when we were in chorus.

But then again, doing Tori Amos, Bjork, Coldplay, and Donnie Hathaway covers is WAY more exciting than singing "Sweet Caroline" and "Jingle Bell Rock."

Oh, check out their version of Madonna's "Sky Meets Heaven." Some of them are in their Halloween costumes. Cute!

Anyway, they have a a YouTube channel and a blog, if you want to see more.

Props to Perez Hilton (don't judge!) for the heads up.

Obama meets Jay-Z

2008-11-13T15:01:00.000-08:00

Oh my god, this mash-up between pop culture and politics just tickles my heart to no end.

Props to Brion for the heads up.

It's never too early to say goodbye ...

2008-11-11T12:05:00.001-08:00

... to George W. Bush.

Paul Waldman at the American Prospect gets the party started:

Goodbye, we can say at last, to the most powerful man in the world being such a ridiculous buffoon, incapable of stringing together two coherent sentences. Goodbye to cringing with dread every time our president steps onto the world stage, sure he'll say or do something to embarrass us all. Goodbye to being represented by a man who embodies everything our enemies want the people of the world to believe about America -- that we are ignorant, cruel, and only care about foreign countries when we decide to stomp on them. Goodbye to his giggle, and his shoulder shake, and his nicknames. Goodbye to a president who talks to us like we're a nation of fourth-graders.

And goodbye, of course, to Dick Cheney. Goodbye to the man whose naked contempt for democracy contorted his face to a permanent sneer, who spent his days in his undisclosed location with his man-sized safe. And while we're at it, goodbye to Cheney's consigliore David Addington, as malevolent a force as has ever left his trail of slime across our federal institutions.

Goodbye, indeed, to the entire band of liars and crooks and thieves who have so sullied the federal government that belongs to us all. We can even say goodbye to those who have already gone, to Rummy and Scooter, to Fredo and Rove, tornados of misery left in their wake.

Go and read the rest.

Obama wins!

2008-11-05T11:27:00.000-08:00

Plus, Sasha and Malia get a new puppy!

Here's more photos, courtesy of the New York Times. People are so relieved, happy, motivated and engaged. How can you not feel inspired?

Election 2008: I'm cautiously optimistic.

2008-11-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

If Obama wins, which is looking more and more likely, think about how inspiring this will be for people of color throughout this nation. Like it or not, the face of America is changing, and it's about time our government reflected that.

Sure, there are people of color who already hold high-profile positions in government, business, entertainment, and sports. But to hold the highest office in the nation?

And during a time when our country has been bitterly divided for several years? This is pretty awesome.

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling pretty energized.

It's hard to explain (especially while trying to type this out on an itty-bitty Blackberry), but I know that some of you who are reading this know what I'm talking about.

Please oh please oh please oh please.

2008-11-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

Illustration by Patrick Moberg, via my BARBARian colleague, Seamus.

Get out there and do your thing

2008-11-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Screening my calls

2008-11-02T22:52:00.000-08:00

Man, I'll be so glad when this election is over. Just this weekend alone, I received about 10 calls reminding me to vote on whatever proposition/candiate/initiative on Nov. 4. Enough already.

Rearranging the Furniture

2008-11-02T11:43:00.000-08:00

If you're one of those oh-so-classy YFP! readers with a complete brain stem, you'll notice that I've made some changes around here.

Really, the changes were unintentional. It all began innocently enough with me clicking around my Blogger dashboard and coming across all of the new-fangled bells and whistles I now have at my disposal.

So at some point, I reached the Click of No Return, and now am forced to:
- Re-build my blogroll, since Blogrolling has been down for what seems like 50 million years
- Re-evaluate if it's worth having Google ads on my blog; It's not like I'm raking in the dough
- Decide on a casual, yet elegant, blog template

If you see that your blog is missing from my blogroll, don't take it personally. I'm going off of memory and my Bloglines list here, so let me know if you want back on via the comments section.

And while I'm at it, I'm going to take this time to remove blogs that are currently on hiatus or ones that I've stopped reading. I will also be adding blogs that I follow regularly that weren't previously on my blogroll.

It's all about synergy, people.

Just so we're clear

2008-11-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

Mr. Go Fuck Yourself Endorses McCain

2008-11-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

A boost to the McCain campaign, or the kiss of death? You decide.

Obama seizes the opportunity to bring it home:

"Earlier today Dick Cheney came out of his undisclosed location and he hit the campaign trail," Obama told a rally in Pueblo, Colorado, quoting Cheney as saying he was "delighted" to back McCain.

"So I would like to congratulate Senator McCain on this endorsement, because he really earned it. That endorsement didn't come easy. Senator McCain had to vote with George Bush 90 percent of the time and agree with Dick Cheney to get it," Obama said.

"McCain had to serve as Washington's biggest cheerleader for going to war in Iraq and support its economic policies that are no different from the last eight years."

Exactly. Thank you for reminding us, Obama.

Totally unrelated: I can't believe I slept on this. Where have I been?

Tuesday afternoon election humor

2008-10-28T12:28:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of the HuffPo.

John McCain's brother is a dumbass.

2008-10-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

Tyra to John McCain: Smile with your eyes!

2008-10-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

It's harder to do than you think. But Tyra? She's got that look down.

NOT fierce.

Props to Rich Juzwiak at FourFour for another funny clip.

Caption Contest

2008-10-16T15:03:00.001-07:00

C'mon. Bring it.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Jim Bourg

Obama and Joe the Plumber

2008-10-16T14:29:00.001-07:00

Much was made about Obama's conversation with Joe the Plumber during last night's debate. McCain's constant references to this man, came off as a somewhat disingenuous ploy to assert his connection to "Joe Six-Pack American."

When you watch the clip, I don't really see how the McCain campaign thought that this ---constantly invoking the name of Joe the Plumber---would have been a good tactic in undermining the feasibility of Obama's tax plan. What you see here instead is a civilized and engaged discourse between the candidate and a voter who has a legitimate concern. I think Obama did a really good job at explaining how his tax plan would affect small business owners and his rationale behind it.

Obama is great at establishing common ground ("I may not get your vote, but I'm still going to be working hard on your behalf, because small businesses are what create jobs in this country, and I want to encourage it") and treating others with respect. Obama didn't talk down to Joe; he didn't condescend by offering him empty platitudes. Instead, he addressed Joe's concerns logically, intelligently, and specifically.

I guess we won't know how Joe will vote on Election Day, but my guess is that he walked away from his five-minute conversation with Obama better informed about his policies.

UPDATE, 3:10 p.m.: Isn't this interesting? (Props to Maryam for the link.)

UPDATE, 11/2, 10:44 A.M.: Since his debut (and subsequent invokings by John McCain on the regular), Joe the Plumber is hired a PR team, is trying to get a book deal, holds news conferences, and is considering running for Congress.

Are Samuel Wurzelbacher's 15 minutes of fame over yet?

The GOP: Racist, or clueless?

2008-10-16T11:18:00.001-07:00

You decide.

Exhibit A:

Sacramento County Republican leaders Tuesday took down offensive material on their official party Web site that sought to link Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraged people to "Waterboard Barack Obama" – material that offended even state GOP leaders.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has pushed the party to try to broaden its appeal, took issue with the site. "In the governor's view, it's completely and totally inappropriate," said Julie Soderlund, a Schwarzenegger spokeswoman.
Hector Barajas, a California Republican Party spokesman, said Democrats have been playing the race card, but that the local party went too far in this instance.
[...]
Taking credit for the site (sacramentorepublicans.org) and its content was county party chairman Craig MacGlashan – husband of Sacramento County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan.
The Bee asked MacGlashan about the content after seeking his reaction to hate-filled graffiti that was spray-painted over an Obama display on a fence at Fair Oaks Boulevard and Garfield Avenue.
In recent weeks, MacGlashan, an attorney, joined local Democratic party officials in condemning vandalism to political displays.
The vandalism to the Obama display appeared to have been done overnight Monday. A racial epithet, profanity, "KKK" and the words "white power" were clearly visible from the roadway. Six of the nine fence panels were defaced.
"What you are describing to me is not free speech, it's vandalism. We don't condone it," MacGlashan said.
But he defended his Web site. "I'm aware of the content," he said. "Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things."
MacGlashan said he would "consider people's complaints" before taking any action.
By Tuesday night, much of the questionable material – which ranged from depicting Obama in a turban to attacking Michelle Obama – had been removed, replaced with political cartoons attacking Obama.

Exhibit B:

The latest newsletter by an Inland Republican women's group depicts Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surrounded by a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken, prompting outrage in political circles.
The October newsletter by the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated says if Obama is elected his image will appear on food stamps -- instead of dollar bills like other presidents. The statement is followed by an illustration of "Obama Bucks" -- a phony $10 bill featuring Obama's face on a donkey's body, labeled "United States Food Stamps."
[...]
The group's president, Diane Fedele,
said she plans to send an apology letter to her members and to apologize at the
club's meeting next week. She said she simply wanted to deride a comment Obama
made over the summer about how as an African-American he "doesn't look like all
those other presidents on the dollar bills."

"It was strictly an attempt
to point out the outrageousness of his statement. I really don't want to go into
it any further," Fedele said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I absolutely
apologize to anyone who was offended. That clearly wasn't my attempt." Fedele
said she got the illustration in a number of chain e-mails and decided to
reprint it for her members in the Trumpeter newsletter because she was offended
that Obama would draw attention to his own race. She declined to say who sent
her the e-mails with the illustration. She said she doesn't think in racist
terms, pointing out she once supported Republican Alan Keyes, an
African-American who previously ran for president.I didn't see it the way that
it's being taken. I never connected," she said. "It was just food to me. It
didn't mean anything else."

She said she also wasn't trying to make a
statement linking Obama and food stamps, although her introductory text to the
illustration connects the two: "Obama talks about all those presidents that got
their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on????? Food Stamps,
what else!"

Way to further along civilized discourse about race
relations in America, you fucking morons.

Links courtesy of Political Animal.

UPDATE, 11/2: I tried to fix the wonky formatting of the second batch of block quotes and ended up screwing up the layout further. Sorry!

Branding: Obama vs. McCain

2008-10-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

John Tepper Marlin at The Huffington Post today gives a high-level analysis behind the branding of the Obama and McCain campaigns. Check it out if you're into iconography, brand identity, that kind of stuff. I thought it was pretty interesting.

Rich Lowry to Sarah Palin: SCHWING!

2008-10-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

Just when you think things couldn't get any more ridiculous, we got his from the National Review (emphasis mine):

A very wise TV executive once told me that the key to TV is projecting through the screen. It's one of the keys to the success of, say, a Bill O'Reilly, who comes through the screen and grabs you by the throat. Palin too projects through the screen like crazy. I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it.

Gross.

Photo lifted from here.

John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis

2008-10-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a pretty disgusting weekend in the McCain campaign, with Sarah Palin accusing Obama of "palling around with terrorists," citing a New York Times article that did not corroborate this part of her argument, oddly enough. Essentially the meme, if you will, is that Obama is being judged by the company that he keeps; that he is guilty by association.

If they want go there, then I suggest you look at this list that Steve Benen (formerly of The Carpetbagger Report and now Political Animal at the Washington Monthly) has compiled of McCain's nefarious relationships, for your information.

Just saying.

And let's not forget that McCain was directly involved in the whole Savings & Loan debacle of the late 80s:

Once upon a time, a politician took campaign contributions and favors from a friendly constituent who happened to run a savings and loan association. The contributions were generous: They came to about $200,000 in today's dollars, and on top of that there were several free vacations for the politician and his family, along with private jet trips and other perks. The politician voted repeatedly against congressional efforts to tighten regulation of S&Ls, and in 1987, when he learned that his constituent's S&L was the target of a federal investigation, he met with regulators in an effort to get them to back off.

That politician was John McCain, and his generous friend was Charles Keating, head of Lincoln Savings & Loan. While he was courting McCain and other senators and urging them to oppose tougher regulation of S&Ls, Keating was also investing his depositors' federally insured savings in risky ventures. When those lost money, Keating tried to hide the losses from regulators by inducing his customers to switch from insured accounts to uninsured (and worthless) bonds issued by Lincoln's near-bankrupt parent company. In 1989, it went belly up -- and more than 20,000 Lincoln customers saw their savings vanish.

Keating went to prison, and McCain's Senate career almost ended. Together with the rest of the so-called Keating Five -- Sens. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), John Glenn (D-Ohio), Don Riegle (D-Mich.) and Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), all of whom had also accepted large donations from Keating and intervened on his behalf -- McCain was investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee and ultimately reprimanded for "poor judgment."

But the savings and loan crisis mushroomed. Eventually, the government spent about $125 billion in taxpayer dollars to bail out hundreds of failed S&Ls that, like Keating's, fell victim to a combination of private-sector greed and the "poor judgment" of politicians like McCain.

The $125 billion seems like small change compared to the $700-billion price tag for the Bush administration's proposed Wall Street bailout. But the root causes of both crises are the same: a lethal mix of deregulation and greed.

As a result of his involvement, McCain was formally reprimanded by the Senate Ethics Committee for being guilty of public misconduct.

The point here, as Steve says, is that we could go all day playing, "Who knows more shitty people," but with the election coming up in less than a month, I'm more interested in knowing what the candidates can do for me. Are you going to make the streets safer? Are you going to fix the economy? If I want to buy a house next year, will it be impossible for me to get a mortgage?

I've had to sit through eight years of fearmongering, idiocy, and intellectual vacuousness. It's time to get down to brass tacks and fix this country.

The Obama campaign launched a short documentary today on John "Keating Five" McCain at KeatingEconomics.com. Take a few minutes to watch it.

I mean, she's pretty I guess, but ...

2008-09-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

... gorgeous?

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Pakistan's new president called GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin "gorgeous" when the two met in New York on Wednesday.

Palin has been in New York meeting international leaders in town this week for United Nations meetings.

On entering a room filled with several Pakistani officials Wednesday, Palin was immediately greeted by Sherry Rehman, the country's information minister.

"And how does one keep looking that good when one is that busy?" Rehman asked Palin, drawing friendly laughter from the room.

"Oh, thank you," Palin said.

Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, entered the room seconds later. Palin rose to shake his hand, saying she was "honored" to meet him.

Zardari then called her "gorgeous" and said: "Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you."

"You are so nice," Palin said, smiling. "Thank you."

I don't know what offends me more---the sexism, or the fact that Palin is getting her international playa game on while, oh by the way, I'm still single. Also, the crack about how the "whole of America" is crazy about this woman. Fuck that shit.

Somewhere out there, McCain's campaign staffers are falling all over themselves, trying to figure out how they can spin this, to somehow use it as proof that Palin somehow has sufficient foreign policy experience. Or whatever. Because she gave the Pakistani president a boner.

Photo credit: Getty Images via CNN.com

God, this really pisses me off.

2008-09-22T20:27:00.001-07:00

This truly makes me sad [emphasis mine]:

Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them "lazy,""violent" or responsible for their own troubles.

The poll, conducted with Stanford University, suggests that the percentage of voters who may turn away from Obama because of his race could easily be larger than the final difference between the candidates in 2004 — about 2.5 percentage points.

While it really upsets me to hear this, I've always maintained that racism and discrimination, unfortunately, is alive and well. Ask any person of color, and they'll agree. And if they don't, they're lucky.

I often wonder what some white people think about people of color---specifically, the things they think inside their heads; the things they don't say out loud. Or the things they only say when there are no other people of color around.

And now I know. But people of color will continue to persevere. We always do.

I know, I know. People will argue that the premise of this survey was flawed, that its method is inherently designed to prevent a broad sample of the population. That not all white people are racist. Like, really, seriously, open-minded without any pretense.

So yes. Not all white people are racist. But, racism and discrimination---from all sides---still exists. Sad, but true. And it frustrates me to no end.

I really don't know the solution, but I hope to see its resolution in my lifetime.

Is that overly optimistic of me?

Props to Catherine at PovertyBarn for the link.

Can I just say?

2008-09-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or is everyone is falling in love with each other all over the fucking place?

Everyone, that is, except me.

It's starting to get on my nerves.

Not that I begrudge these people. Many of them are people whom I love and adore.

But seriously, can a woman get some love up in here?

I'm torn between deciding to be ... how do you say ... indiscriminate (not that even *that* is easy), and trying to get over my cat allergies, because one day, I just might end up one of those old maids who have 8 cats in her apartment.

Hopefully this is just work stress getting to me.

So much for not blogging about politics.

2008-09-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help myself.

************

Hey Carly! Nice save! NOT.

Carly Fiorina, a key surrogate for John McCain on economic issues, said on Tuesday that Sarah Palin does not have the experience needed to run a major company like the one that Fiorina formerly headed.

"Do you think [Sarah Palin] has the experience to run a major company, like Hewlett Packard?" asked the host.

"No, I don't," responded Fiorina. "But you know what? That's not what she's running for."

[...]

Fiorina went on MSNBC to defend her comments and decides to double down, arguing that John McCain, Barack Obama, and Joseph Biden couldn't run Hewlett Packard either. The Obama campaign, seeking to compound the fallout of her earlier statement, highlights just the portion where she talks about McCain.

"If John McCain's top economic advisor doesn't think he can run a corporation, how on Earth can he run the largest economy in the world in the midst of a financial crisis? Apparently even the people who run his campaign agree that the economy is an issue John McCain doesn't understand as well as he should," said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.

Just sayin'.

(Props to my dawg, Ann, for the link.)

And: This is just fantastic. Just read it in its entirety.

So, when Barack Obama says he will put some lipstick on my pig, I am, like, Are you calling me a pig? If so, thanks! Pigs are the most non-Élite of all barnyard animals. And also, if you put lipstick on my pig, do you know what the difference will be between that pig and a pit bull? I’ll tell you: a pit bull can easily kill a pig. And, as the pig dies, guess what the Hockey Mom is doing? Going to her car, putting on more lipstick, so that, upon returning, finding that pig dead, she once again looks identical to that pit bull, which, staying on mission, the two of them step over the dead pig, looking exactly like twins, except the pit bull is scratching his lower ass with one frantic leg, whereas the Hockey Mom is carrying an extra hockey stick in case Todd breaks his again. But both are going, like, Ha ha, where’s that dumb pig now? Dead, that’s who, and also: not a smidge of lipstick.

A lose-lose for the pig.

There’s a lesson in that, I think.

Also: John McCain helped create the Blackberry? Somewhere out there, Al Gore feels vindicated, and I want to throw mine away.

My avoidance of political blogging, Day 39286837

2008-09-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

This animated clip of a [hypothetical] conversation between Akon and T-Pain would sound like cracks. My. Shit. UP.

Enjoy.

Props to Chris for the heads up.

Are you sure that was a sausage?

2008-09-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

BAM!

FRESNO, Calif. — A burglar who broke into a home just east of Fresno rubbed spices over the body of one of two men as they slept in their rooms and then used an 8-inch sausage to whack the other man on the face and head before running out of the house, police said.

[...]

The victims, both farmworkers, told deputies they were awakened by a stranger applying spices to one of them and striking the other with a sausage.

If you were a burglar, and your burgle victims were ALREADY SLEEPING, why would you wake them up by rubbing spices on their face?

Props to Bellamomo for the link.

History repeats itself

2008-09-07T11:17:00.000-07:00

I gotta hand it to the GOP-mouthpiece, FOX "news" and their uncanny ability to stay on message while in attack mode. For YEARS.

The benefits of taking public transportation

2008-08-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

I wonder, if I took the bus to work, whether I'd run into some hot guy on the bus and dance por solea por bulerias with him.

I imagine that it would go something like this:

Me make one little mistake you wan dun us?

2008-08-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

Now this? Is my JAM.

"Need U Bad," Jazmine Sullivan feat. Missy Eliot

Will you be my American boy?

2008-08-16T10:37:00.001-07:00

This song is all over the radio right now, and I absolutely adore it.

Gotta love the shout out to the Bay.

Actually, it may, in fact, be a moth.

2008-08-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

I'd love to hear what he was hearing on his earpiece.

Props to Swifty for the link.

Obama's 'race card'

2008-08-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

The McCain campaign is accusing Obama for playing the "race card" in response to this statement Obama recently made in response to recent characterizations of him (made by the McCain campaign) to Britney Spears or Paris Hilton.

“So nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face, so what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me,” Mr. Obama said in Springfield, Mo., echoing earlier remarks. “You know, he’s not patriotic enough. He’s got a funny name. You know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills, you know. He’s risky. That’s essentially the argument they’re making."

I don't know if you noticed this, but Obama is a black man. And he said he was a black man. He doesn't look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills.

And?

As a person of color, I can tell when someone is making blatant use of their race as a play for emotions or sympathy. To be honest, I don't see that happening here.

And McCain? Please. Give me a break. You've been playing the Karl Rove card for months now. I think that's a million times worse.

I'm not here to make friends

2008-07-07T20:31:00.001-07:00

The ever-brilliant Rich at FourFour has compiled a montage of your favorite reality-show cliche (and mine), the ol' "I'm not here to make friends":

What's missing is a montage of clips of these brilliant Masters of the Obvious who feel the need to remind us every so often that what we are watching is, in fact, a competition. I would be as happy as a little girl to see that.

Gustav Klimt, re-imagined

2008-07-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

I came across this post at Naked City and wanted to share.

See more here.

Michelin - Bay Area Edition

2008-06-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

I've been in New York for the past week, eating my way through the city. I've raised my blood sugar with cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery, endured delicious torture at Babbo, endured the sight of the autographed Louie Anderson photo in my booth at John's Pizzeria, crunched on pig's ears at the Spotted Pig, and dined at both Lupa and Prune.

Needless to say, restaurants are my thing. Of course, I find it interesting that Michelin just came out with their first West Coast edition of restaurant star ratings. What took them so long?

Getting just one Michelin star is a big deal; getting three christens you as culinary god. So the French Laundry, according to Michelin, is pretty much mecca of culinary delights, giving it three stars; the only restaurant in the West Coast Edition guide to get three stars. Great. Now it'll take about two years to get a table there.

Chez Panisse is conspicuously absent from the list. I'm not surprised, though. Last time I was there a few months ago, I wasn't really blown away. It was great, but not truly spectacular or revelatory.

Milestones

2008-06-19T19:43:00.001-07:00

Lately, my life has been ALL about milestones, key dates and deliverables, so it's a wonder that I missed this semi-significant one: My humble corner of the blogosphere has surpassed the 100,000 visits mark. As of right now, I'm at 105,527 visits.

And counting, bitches.

I know I've been a little, how do you say, lax on the postings. I've just not been feeling inspired as of late. And yeah, I've been sorta keeping tabs on the whole Democratic primary and presidential campaign thang (Obama!), but I've also been working out, dancing lots and lots of flamenco, traveling, getting promoted and, in general, getting my groove on.

Doin' my thang, as they say.

I have been keeping close tabs, however, on all of my favorite blogs, and discovering new ones. Food blogs and blogs by chefs are my new guilty pleasure. Especially Eric Ripert's new blog, Avec Eric. God, I love that man. He is slowly encroaching on my total lust for Anthony Bourdain, I'll have you know. And that's saying something.

You'd think all of this food-blog-reading would inspire me to re-invigorate my own food blog, but no. I've been forcing myself to eat more salad lately that I haven't even really been doing any Filipino cooking in my own kitchen.

But that's neither here nor there. I'm officially at the 100K+ blog hits point.

Viva You Forgot Poland! Ole!

Scott McClellan Tattles on Bush

2008-05-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

I always thought that the repugnant look on Scott McClellan's face was an outward manifestation of his disdain for his job, and now I think I was right. By now, you all know that he just came out with a book that basically confirms that he was a a hack to the highest degree.

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan writes in a new memoir that the Iraq war was sold to the American people with a sophisticated "political propaganda campaign" led by President Bush and aimed at "manipulating sources of public opinion" and "downplaying the major reason for going to war."

McClellan includes the charges in a 341-page book, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," that delivers a harsh look at the White House and the man he served for close to a decade. He describes Bush as demonstrating a "lack of inquisitiveness," says the White House operated in "permanent campaign" mode, and admits to having been deceived by some in the president's inner circle about the leak of a CIA operative's name.

In true form, the White House responded by dismissing McClellan as a disgruntled employee.

Why am I not surprised?

Man, I hate when former Dubya employees keep their mouths shut until after they leave the White House, then write a tell-all book about how screwed up things really are under this administration.

Rachel Ray, Terrorist Supporter

2008-05-28T17:01:00.000-07:00

Look. I make no secret about my disdain for Rachel "EVOO" Ray. But COME THE FUCK ON, people:

Does Dunkin' Donuts really think its customers could mistake Rachael Ray for a terrorist sympathizer? The Canton-based company has abruptly canceled an ad in which the domestic diva wears a scarf that looks like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men. Some observers, including ultra-conservative Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin, were so incensed by the ad that there was even talk of a Dunkin' Donuts boycott.

"The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad," Malkin yowls in her syndicated column. "Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant and not-so-ignorant fashion designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons."

The company at first pooh-poohed the complaints, claiming the black-and-white wrap was not a keffiyeh. But the right-wing drumbeat on the blogosphere continued and by yesterday, Dunkin' Donuts decided it'd be easier just to yank the ad. Said the suits in a statement:

"In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by her stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we are no longer using the commercial."

So what was the fashion faux pas that sent Michelle Malkin and those of her ilk in a tizzy? Behold:

I grow weary of all this hysterical, over-the-top jingoism. Next thing you know, these people will be clamoring for flag-pin-wearing checkpoints set up all over the nation.

(Photo credit: Boston.com)

The People of Burma to Kim Kardashian: "Thanks, but no thanks. We're totally serious."

2008-05-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

I love when she goes into a whole soliloquy about how she wrote her "thesis" about Burma while checking out her ass in the mirror.

(Courtesy of WWTDD.)

Sunday Morning WTF

2008-04-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

Heidi Montag was invited to the White House Correspondents gala. What?

Did Portishead kill trip-hop?

2008-04-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

That's what this Salon article by James Hannaham says. Apparently Tricky and Massive Attack, in their most recent releases, have turned away from the Bristol Sound. Our only hope---Portishead and their ten-years-overdue third album--- Hannaham seems to assert, doesn't keep it alive.

[Lead singer Beth] Gibbons' trembling voice used to sound bluesy and erotic --"It Could Be Sweet," from their debut, could have been pillow talk verbatim. On the second record, she often threw in a vampy, nasal quality that cut the generally depressive tone with a touch of humor. What singer could take herself seriously while doing a Shirley Bassey impression? On "Third," Gibbons takes herself entirely too seriously, moving between a whispery, disaffected moan and a fluttery, anxious whine. She always sounds powerless, like she's about to burst into tears. The folky numbers, like "Hunter," have a very listenable, austere atmosphere, but not a sensual one -- Portishead has lured you and your partner to their dark Transylvanian castle, but you'll be sleeping in separate quarters.

One of the tracks from the new album, "Machine Gun," is up on their MySpace page.

Oh, snap. He's right, it's a totally different sound. I'm not going into mourning just yet: true, it's no Roads or Mysterons, but I'll still buy the new album anyway.

The New Yorker drops knowledge about "The Hills"

2008-04-17T18:26:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I've watched "The Hills" voluntarily. A girl sometimes needs some mindless entertainment. But I'll never forgive Lauren Conrad, she of the "sub-Old Navy" clothing line, for blowing off a summer in Paris so that she could spend time with her boyfriend. What? WHO DOES THAT?

Anyway. I love when high-brow publications offer up commentary about vapid pop-culture institutions. In this case, The New Yorker takes on "The Hills," and the author still can't figure out why this show is so hot.

I don’t know for sure what the appeal is, even though I have worked for nine years in the building identified in the show as Teen Vogue Headquarters and some wisdom should have rubbed off on me by now. But I’m still trying to figure out why teen-agers want their bra straps to show and how it came to pass that crooked hair parts are considered chic and not a pathetic sign that you didn’t have proper mothering. So I have plenty to think about as it is. The L.A. of this show has no edge or darkness to it, and perhaps it’s easy, and pleasant, for young girls to imagine being Lauren & Co. when they grow up. (Or at least to have their teeth, which are truly spectacular.) The show’s soundtrack is all pop songs, often as many as a dozen per episode, and they tend to be programmatically upbeat or emo, underlining the three overriding and broadly painted feelings of the characters: I’m so glad; I’m so sad; and I’m so confused. These characters are now in their twenties, but they still smell like Teen Spirit.

Heh.

(Photo credit: Illustration by Quickhoney, courtesy of The New Yorker.)

Poor Larry.

2008-04-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

Larry Ellison's shithole in Woodside, CA.

Larry Ellison, Oracle's CEO, recently took a $3M tax break on his Woodside home after declaring it "functionally obsolete," whatever that means. According to the SF Chronicle, the money will come out of San Mateo County funds, $1.4M of which would have gone to schools.

And while it's true that Ellison, Mr. #12 on the Forbes 500 List, already has a net worth of about $25 billion (with a B, kids), he must really need that extra three mil, so get off his back.

Why? How did Larry Ellison's palatial estate decline by more than 60 percent in value in a market where luxury homes are actually appreciating and single-family homes values in the county only decreased 6.3 percent in the last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems?

Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Lilienthal declined comment, and Bennett, of San Francisco law firm Bennett & Yee, didn't return a call from The Chronicle. But Ellison's appeal claimed the property suffered from "significant functional obsolescence" because there is a finite market for high-end luxury homes, limited appeal for 16th-century Japanese architecture and the "over improvements" and "excessive" landscaping are costly to maintain.

Sixteenth-century Japanese architecture doesn't just take care of itself, Lar.

(Photo credit: Chronicle photo, 2006, by Christina Koci Hernandez)

2008 WRBC

2008-03-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

Since I had such a great time last year, I spent my afternoon in Berkeley at the 2008 Western Regional Barista Competition, sucking down cappuccinos and watching baristas from all over California compete for the regional championship and the chance to compete in the U.S. Barista Championships in Minneapolis.

For those of you who don't know:

The Western Regional Barista Competition strives to foster the production of quality coffee, encourage creativity and innovation, and create an regional, national, and international community of specialty coffee professionals.

Each contestant prepares and serves 3 espresso beverages for each of four sensory judges...one espresso, one cappuccino, and one "signature" drink of their own creation. Competitors have only 15 minutes to prepare all twelve drinks while being observed by four sensory skills and two technical judges. Competitors are judged based on drink taste, presentation, technical skills and cleanliness.

My favorite thing to watch are the different techniques the baristas use to dose and tamp their shots. If you're into that sort of thing, it's really interesting to see the differences in technique and the complete comfort they have when working with these machines. Back in my barista days, I could steam milk like nobody's business. But the grinder? Trial and error, my friends. Trial and error.

Ritual's Chris Baca, my favorite, got first place. I'm sure his cherry-lime-cheesecake signature drink had a lot to do with his win (aside from his stellar technique, of course) which, as I've heard from friends of mine who've tasted it, is super delish.

Chris Baca in action

Here's a list of today's winners:

1st: Chris Baca, Ritual, San Francisco, CA
2nd: Kyle Glanville, Intelligentsia, Los Angeles, CA
3rd: Heather Perry, Coffee Klatch, San Dimas, CA

And I would be remiss to neglect giving mad props to the last guy who competed today from Intelligentsia (sorry dude, I didn't catch your name, my bad) for including Snoop Dogg's Sensual Seduction in his music mix. That's espresso-makin' music right there, baby. Aww yeah.

(Photo courtesy of WRBC's Flickr page.)

Bathing With Bierko: John Malkovich

2008-03-27T19:03:00.001-07:00

Oh man. You gotta watch this. Interview show meets bath time.

Fucking fantastic.

Thanks to BYO for the link.

Holla At a Panda

2008-03-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

Oh, those pandas, always needing help with their sex game:

Animal handlers in China have developed a "sexercise" program to try to encourage extinction-threatened pandas to overcome their notoriously low sex drives.

Featuring hip and pelvic-strengthening "dances" for male pandas, the program also sees inexperienced pandas watching their older relatives make love to learn a few moves.

The handlers hope to encourage mating among the sex-shy-but-endangered animals, the Chinese state media reported Tuesday. They work at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in the southwestern Sichuan province, the China Daily said.

Keepers teach male pandas a dance-like routine to strengthen the pelvic and hip area -- it also boosts the animal's stamina, the paper said.

Poor pandas. Not only do you have to deal with heightened scrutiny surrounding your sex life and your handlers making you watch panda porn to help you get busy. Now they're trying to teach you how to get all freaky deaky on the dance floor while making you watch other pandas --- who may essentially your aunts and uncles --- have sex right in front of you as a means to get you in the mood.

After all of that, it's no wonder why you pandas have low libidos. Performance anxiety, anyone?

I you ask me, I say you leave them in a room with a bottle of tequila and some Barry White/Luther Vandross playing in the background, and let nature take its course.

Props to Ceci for the link. Photo lifted from here.

Nietzsche Family Circus

2008-03-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

As a kid, I totally hated that Family Circus comic. I found it utterly corny and trite. But this, courtesy of LosAnjealous, makes the whole thing way more palatable. Here's an example:

The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.

Props to Scott for the link.

And I'm off ...

2008-03-11T22:47:00.000-07:00

... to New York for a few days. See you in a few.

(Photo credit: Allposters.com)

Project Runway After Party - Season 4

2008-03-05T23:11:00.000-08:00

Season Finale: Congratulations, Christian!

Christian Siriano wins Season 4 of Project Runway, and I think it was well deserved. With all of the bitchiness and all of the Fierce aside, his collection was edgy, modern, and way stylish.

I did, however, love Rami's woven gown and the one with the 1930's vintage lace. Gorgeous.

Jillian's collection was alright, but after a while, the models just looked so drab and robot-like, just like her. So that was a turnoff for me. Not fierce.

Flamenco Open Stage this Sunday

2008-02-28T22:18:00.001-08:00

Our big student show is this weekend, and I'm really excited about it. We've been working on this long choreography por alegrias for several months now, and it's been challenging but freakin' awesome at the same time.

I'm even getting a skirt made special for the show.

That's life in showbiz, kids.

Match, smatch.

2008-02-28T22:12:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to think last week's impulsive move was all a big mistake and am beginning to fear that I am somehow un-dateable.

Project Runway After Party - Season 4

2008-02-20T23:25:00.000-08:00

Episode 12: The Reunion Show (aka NINAGARZILLA)

I didn't think there was anything too spectacular about this reunion show, so I'd just like to leave you with my observations.

Why do bangs look so much better on other people (and by "other people," I mean "Heidi Klum") except me?
Why was Victorya upset about Jack leaving?
Why did the camera immediately cut to Victorya when the designers complained about eating so much Chinese take out?
I think it's safe to assume that the entire cast and crew of this season's Project Runway HATED Victorya.
I love how Heidi says “Lincoln, Nebraska.”
Ricky. Crying. I'm over it.
The montages? I was a little underwhelmed by them. Except:
Elisa's extraterrestrial video montage rivaled Guadalupe's in terms of sheer train wreckedness.
Watching Michael Kors lose his poker face over the corny runway antics of the RAW divas just touched my heart.
Ramilicious? Is that the best you could do?
Spread Eagle: Best Wrestler Name. Evar.
NINAGARZILLA. I'm just saying.
Christian is the fan favorite. Fierce. I think I identify with Christian because I, too, am fierce.
Michael Knight! I know Tiffany is dying right now!
Check out Heidi trying to drink in Michael Knight’s scent.
Chris' laugh? Not all that. But I still love him.
Jillian's human after all. She came off 40% more interesting. And her pirouette? Fierce.

Be sure to check out Blogging Project Runway's Recapalooza for recaps from other Project Runway freaks like me.

I am officially crazy.

2008-02-19T21:57:00.000-08:00

I don't know what got into me, but I just put up one of those fancy online dating profiles on Chemistry.com.

I've not had great luck in the dating arena, to put it mildly, and my last relationship (if you can even call it that) ended badly. As soon as I hit "enter" after entering my credit card information, a wave of terror rushed through me. I feel vulnerable and scared and am wondering if I can even go through with all of this. Is anyone going to find me attractive? Will I find anyone attractive enough to endure hours of small talk and butterflies in my stomach?

Happy Valentine's Day or something

2008-02-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

Especially to you who are Valentine-less, like me.

UPDATE 2/14, 11 a.m.: I realize my initial post is somewhat cynical. After reading this heart-warming, positive piece from Res Ipsa Loquitur at Rising Hegemon, I've been inspired to follow her lead and not be so damn negative about Valentine's Day. So, on that note:

Project Runway After Party, Season 4

2008-02-13T23:11:00.000-08:00

Episode 11: The Art of Fashion

Hello, dear Reader. I'm back. Sorry for not doing a recap of the last episode. I was out of town and was too caught up in Pinkberry that I got back to where I was staying just in time to know that Ricky got The Auf. Boo hoo. Not.

So we're down to five designers. Behold, dear Reader, the designers who will be showing their collections at Bryant Park, two of which are, of course, the traditional Project Runway decoys:

This week's challenge, to find inspiration in timeless works of art was, as one designer put it, "a designer's dream." It's art creating art. Does that make it ... meta? Postmodern? Hmmm ...

Anyway, in the spirit of Bravo's final twist (more on that later), I'm not going to go into the play-by-play for this episode; I've found it a bit tedious, and many recappers do a much better job of it than I do. Instead, let's go right into a discussion of the final runway pieces, shall we?

Behold, the winner of this week's challenge: Christian and his androgeny-inspired look from a Spanish painting blew my mind. See for yourself:

Say what you will about Christian, but even with all of his snark, all of this bitchiness, and all of his swagger, he puts his braggadocio money where his mouth is and consistently offers up a strong point of view week after week. I will admit, I was getting tired of his vertically ruffled, skinny-arm jackets, but he managed to tweak it just enough for this final challenge. He created a piece of art, of theater and, most importantly, of fashion. His fearlessness earned him the win, and he rightly deserved it.

The other fan favorite, Rami --- a beautiful male specimen indeed --- has become a bit of a one note, I'm afraid. His dresses, while gorgeous in all of their resplendent red-carpet-Grecian-goddess drapery, in the end were more uninspiring than anything else. And for this final challenge, one would think that he'd want to bring forth onto the runway something a little more memorable. But, like Michael Kors said, he played it a little too safe. While yes, it's true that the designers found out about this challenge in a room filled with Hellenistic sculpture, I don't think Rami should have taken it as as a mandate to create the same garment he's been making the entire season.

I don't really have much to say about Chris and Jillian's garments. Chris', while beautiful in and of itself, was too similar to the couture challenge. And I really didn't see why the judges (including Guest Judge Roberto Cavalli) found Jillian's jacket to be stunning. I hated it.

Sweet P (along with Christian) became my favorite because of her sweet demeanor (hence the moniker, I assume) and her ability to come through with a great garment each week. It was sad to see her get The Auf this week, but I understand why; her garment failed to make the connection between the peacock painting and her vision. I would have at least liked to have seen the same purple, green and gold colors in the garment (without looking like some Mardi Gras costume from hell) instead of that garish red and that ugly print. They had two days for this challenge; she should have done something much more ... peacock feathery. Like something along the lines of a peacock bata de cola or something. Anything but ... this:

Back to Rami and Chris. Both designers' designs were redundant, yet beautiful for what they were. So the good folks at Project Runway decide to up the drama ante and make Rami and Chris compete for the third coveted spot at Bryant Park. Both will come up with a collection and show the Project Runway judges three of their strongest looks. The winner of that mini-challenge will show their entire collection, along with Christian and Jillian at Bryant Park.

This little dramatic twist would have been more interesting, except for the fact that we all know that all five designers (Jillian, Christian, Chris, Rami, and Sweet P) show at Bryant Park anyway.

You gotta love the Internets.

My call for Project Runway Season 4 winner? Christian Siriano. Rami doesn't need the win. He already has his own business and has dressed the Jessica Albas of the world. Of course, I would have loved it if Sweet P won the entire competition because she really needs the money and because she's kind of an underdog. But looking at her entire collection juxtaposed against the other designers, she's just in a different league.

Next week: The reunion show!

Real-live Quidditch Leagues

2008-02-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

Yeah, you heard me. It's true.

The first intercollegiate Quidditch match was held here this month, and though this version of the game is earthbound, it's taking off. Originally played by wizards darting about on broomsticks in the Harry Potter novels, the game is now taking root on college campuses.

"We were all Harry Potter's age when the books started," says Sam Libby, 20, a Middlebury College junior geography major from Richmond, Vt. "And Quidditch is one of the most creative things that came out of the books. We were able to create that here, follow all the rules, except the ability to fly. It just caught on."

Quidditch surfaced at Middlebury two falls ago when a handful of students gathered to play a rudimentary form of the game on Sunday afternoons, making up rules extrapolated from the books.

By this month's Intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup Fall Festival, there were banners, team processions worthy of Olympic opening ceremonies, halftime entertainment and 12 seven-person coed Middlebury teams vying for the chance to play the visiting team from Vassar College.

Why can't some things just be left alone? These nerds are ruining the Harry Potter magic for me.

(Photo credit: Alden D. Pellett/USA Today)

What Tarot Card Are You?

2008-02-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

Hmm...

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

New obsession

2008-02-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

I've been in downtown Los Angeles for the last 24 hours and have discovered a new obsession: Pinkberry.

Pinkberry, Silver Lake.

To some, it's just another Fro-Yo place. Others might question whether there's any yogurt actually in it. Still, some others line up around the block for a cup of it's creamy, sweet/tart goodness, with that clean finish that my palate loves oh, so much.

Now I know why. Yum. I have plans to visit the Silver Lake location today.

I leave SoCal early tomorrow and am already plotting to get a fix in before boarding the plane. Do they have one at LAX? I'm just saying.

UPDATE, 2/8: I'm going to NYC in March. I just found out they have nine locations there. I am as happy as a little girl.

Super Tuesday

2008-02-05T09:22:00.000-08:00

Before you get your Mardi Gras game on, don't forget to vote today.

Freaky Friday

2008-02-03T13:47:00.000-08:00

Since many of my beloved co-workers, some of whom read this blog, were out of the office last Friday, I thought I'd show you a graphic depiction of how my day started:

Except it wasn't a cockroach, it was a spider. And I wasn't in a news studio in front of a weather map, but inside my cube. But my reaction? Totally just like this guy. Maybe even worse, actually.

Also, I wanted to post this because it cracks me up.

Project Runway After Party - Season 4

2008-01-23T23:11:00.000-08:00

Episode 9: “Even Designers Get the Blues”
(aka "Oh my god, I'm gonna die of barfness!")

Morning after Kit’s Aufing. Victorya accidentally calls Sweet P “Kit,” to which Sweet P protest loudly. So Victorya does it again. Weirdo passive aggressive cow.

Ricky decides to wear his black and white painters cap today. Unfortunately.

Heidi initiates the whole boring “pick a model” thing.

Field trip!

Rami waxes poetic about what the field trip could mean. Either you go to the garbage dump and have to make a wedding dress out of it, or you get flown to Paris and have to make a couture gown, he says.

He’s so meta.

Christian notices that they’re bringing them to some borough, and struggles to fit the word “fabulous” in. He doesn’t sound too convincing.

It turns out that Tim brings them to some pier overlooking the East River. I know I said in my last recap that I hate Rami because of how he treated Sweet P during the last challenge. But there’s a shot of them walking together, Rami with his arm around her. So now I kind of like Rami again.

I’m so fickle. Isn’t it so fierce of me?

Anyway, the garage door thing goes up slowly, gradually revealing more than 500 pairs of Levi’s 501s and some cotton hung up on clotheslines towards the back of the huge garage/warehouse thingy.

This week’s challenge? Create an iconic denim look of your choice while creating synergy and increased equity for the Levi’s brand or something.
The budget? Who needs a budget when Levi’s paid for this episode?

The designers are told to run to the other end of the garage thing and snatch up as many denim pieces they can. You know Chris is hating this. Sweet P loses a shoe in the name of fashion, such a brave one, that Sweet P. Rami grabs all the dark jeans he could find. Robot picks the lightest color she can find. Chris grabs whatever he can get. Fierce started out with a plan, and then grabbed whatever. Chris graciously gives Victorya a pair of jeans that were left on the floor. I think he just didn’t want to bend over to pick it up.

Tim gives the designers until midnight to bust this thing out.

Ricky thinks that denim is fun sometimes, and tells us that he’s made a few of his hats out of denim. Seriously, Ricky? Enough with the hats already.

We start to hear more about Rami’s life growing up in Jerusalem, complete with gratuitous baby photos. He says that he wants to show Levis that they can be fashion-forward and hip. As far as I know, you can’t drape denim. Will this challenge be Rami’s undoing?

Christian thinks that the challenge is disgusting because they basically gave him a design-school challenge. I’m guessing he’s not so much into deconstructionism. Everyone fantasizing about inflicting bodily harm on him because they’re all sick of his prepubescent snark.

Jillian realizes that Victorya is also making a denim coat, and they both worked on a coat in the last challenge and she totally didn’t know that Victorya was “also into coats,” so she’s tripping out.

Cut to commercial. Chloe lives in L.A. now and hangs out at Echo Park for design inspiration? She is so ‘Mi Vida Loca.’

Christian got inspired by Levi’s look book, so he decided to make a trucker jacket for a woman. Sweet P is making a kind of wedding dress. We hear about her husband and how he’s supporting her right now while she’s trying to get her fashion game on.

Christian says what we’re all thinking: Ricky should have gone home instead of Kit. And Ricky senses it, so he proceeds to give us his resume: I heard Oscar de la Renta and some other designer names.

Chris talks to himself --- or to the garment. It’s part of his creative process. Whatever you need to do, my dear. We heart you.

Tim comes in and calls Ricky’s dress “stunning.” Frankly, I’m stunned at Tim’s comment. Ricky is making something stunning?

He thinks Chris’ garment looks “incongruous,” and it reminds me of geometry class, so I tune out for the rest of the conversation.

Jillian still has a ways to go with her garment. Tim thinks Rami’s zipper detail trim has the potential for blowing everyone away. (That's because we've already seen this in Jeffery Sebelia's collection. But Tim has a crush on Rami, so how soon they forget!) Tim thinks Victorya’s outfit is looking very “patch-worky.” And he’s not loving Sweet P’s wedding dress is “happy hands of home-granny circle.”

“Resolve the skirt,” he tells her after making the Home Alone face.

God, I love the feedback Tim comes up with. How do you “resolve” a skirt?

Anyway, Sweet P makes a quick change to the garment. I hope it works, girl. I’m rooting for you!

Back in the sewing room, it becomes apparent that Jillian’s freakout is imminent. She keeps cutting herself at the sewing machine and she starts to cry. She’s bleeding everywhere, so Rami comes over and he doesn’t see any blood. Even when Jillian is freaking out and bleeding all over the place, she's still utterly bland.

Christian doesn’t even throw out any gratuitous “fierces” for a while because he’s so busy trying to get his garment finished.

[Sidebar: I’m going to try my hardest to remember to watch ‘Top Chef’ this season, for crying out loud. It’s like one of my New Year’s resolutions or something.]

The next morning, Jillian reminds us how determined she is while Rami mists his face. As silly as it is to mist your face, I have to admit that he mists his face quite beautifully.

Models come in for fittings, and Ricky hasn’t cried yet. Amazing.

Victorya is in love with her boring coat. Jillian is totally last minute. Christian thinks everyone sucks, as usual. And ---- Rami resorts to the glue gun!

Et tu, Rami?

On to the runway!

Heidi announces that nobody will be getting immunity from here on out.

Rami’s garment reminded me of the candy wrapper challenge for some reason. Christian’s jacket – while cool, reminded me of that jacket he made for the “I’m-not-fat-anymore” challenge. It's that same skinny-with-puffy-shoulder jacket he always makes when he's not making a dress. Victorya’s jacket looked like the jacket they made for the coutoure challenge. Sweet P’s dress? I loved it, of course. It didn’t remind me of anything I’ve seen in previous episodes.

NINAGARCIA and Kors loved Christian’s work. They all pronounce the birth of a new jean: The Motocross Jean. Twenty bucks says we see "The Motocross Jean" at the GAP this fall.

NINAGARCIA thinks Chris’s dress looks dated and not iconic. Heidi thought the dress looked unfinished or home sewn. Kors thinks he should have taken the fraying further. Heidi thought it was boring. “Very Joan Cusack in ‘Working Girl’”

The judges liked Rami’s. NINAGARCIA thought his outfit was very sophisticated and very Rami. She also thought it was refreshing that he was forced to not drape this time around. I can't wait until she calls out Christian for making that same jacket and Jillian for making another damn trenchcoat.

The judges also liked Ricky’s. Kors reveals he loves Amy Winehouse and basically says that Ricky’s lingerie experience finally showed through on his construction of this denim dress. Ricky starts crying, of course.

“What’s up with you?” Heidi asks him.

Girl, don’t even get me started. It’s kind of like Ricky’s ashamed of his lingerie-making background or something, the way he keeps crying whenever you bring it up.

The judges aren’t liking Jillian’s at all. Heidi says it makes her model look like a marshmallow. Jillian’s problem? Biting off more than she could chew. Oh, and also being a zombie.

Kors thinks Sweet P’s dress looks “super chic,” and it has some “voodoo” to it that makes you look slimmer. NINAGARCIA loved it. “It’s versatile,” she says. God, I love Sweet P. She’s so cute. I think I have a little girly crush on her.

The judges thought Victorya’s garment was disjointed. “Like a jean jacket and a skirt glued together.

[SIDEBAR: I totally NEED one of those Mac laptops that fit in an interoffice envelope.]

Ricky wins this challenge, and is told that they are going to sell his dress on Levi.com. Surprisingly, he doesn’t cry after hearing that. Jesus H, I don’t understand this man.

Victorya gets The Auf.

The designers who make it to the next round aren’t looking too distraught about her leaving. Heh heh. They all hate her too.

Next week: Sweet P and Christian arm wrestle!

R.I.P. Heath Ledger

2008-01-22T18:55:00.000-08:00

Actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his Manhattan apartment today.

That sucks. We at YFP! extend our deepest condolences to his family.

(Photo credit: Fairfax Digital)

Project Runway After Party - Season 4

2008-01-16T23:06:00.000-08:00

Episode 8: En Garde!
(aka, “Hello Bravo? Just a bit of feedback: Your website ruined my joy tonight!”)

Before I start this recap, I just want to share with you a little tip: Don’t check BravoTV.com before the show airs. I found out who got The Auf before the opening credits ended. Grr. But like the good blogger I am, I’m going to make it work, dammit.

So the show begins, and Heidi brings out their models, all of whom are rocking crazy hairstyles. The folks at the Tressemme hair room look like they’ve gone crazy with the crimping iron!

The designers re-pick their models. Yadda yadda. Two models end up getting kicked out – one with a non-hairstyle, and the second one with dreads. I bet the second one is hating the fact that they basically locked her hair up for nothing. That's going to be a bitch to untangle, girl!

The challenge: Design an avant-garde garment based on your model’s hairstyle.
Budget: $300
Time: 2 days

Back in the workroom, Tim tells them the look, since it's supposed to be avant garde, doesn’t have to be realistic, or even wearable. This should be great then. I'm looking at you, Chris.

He also tells them they have to work in teams. Ouch. The teams are:

Kit and Ricky (Team "I don't have a clever name")
Sweet P and Rami (Team Micromanage)
Chris with Christian (Team Fierce)
Victorya and Jillian (Team Bland)

While the teams get together and start conceptualizing, I learn a few things. Such as: Christian used to work at Alexander McQueen; Kit loves her some avant-garde design; Sweet P’s mind doesn’t naturally gravitate toward the avant garde; Ricky has a new hat; Victorya and Jillian, together, are even more of a yawn-fest than they are separately; Christian’s drag queen name might be Feroshhhh.

Jillian tells us that she and Victorya’s Achille’s heel is time management. Normally, I’d take this to mean that one of them is going to get kicked off, but NOT THIS TIME, since BravoTV.com has seemed to forget that there are people on the West Coast who are watching the show right now who still like to be surprised.

Rami is growing frustrated with Sweet P because she’s taking forever making her pants, but Sweet P thinks he’s tripping out, because they’re like, almost done with the pants and some corset. I decide that Rami’s a little control freak, and a bit of a perfectionist. In another context, I’d usually view these as somewhat positive traits; but he’s starting to get on my girl Sweet P’s last nerve, so I’m a little on edge. He’s not even liking her idea of a bustle, for chrissakes. You'll regret this, Rami!

Tim comes back to the workroom with a special announcement: There will be another look walking down the runway. In other words, they have to re-conceptualize their avant garde look and translate it into something more commercial and ready-to-wear. This challenge is supposed to mimic The Real World of a Fashion Designer or something.

Christian wants to vomit. Jillian panics because they only have one day left, and they're a bunch of laggers. Ricky wants to be a hero, so he offers to make Garment #2 all by himself. Victorya presents symptoms that resemble morning sickness or something. Sweet P tries to explain a concept to Rami, but he blows her off because she doesn’t seem convinced, or because navy blue isn’t really “day.” Or something.

Tim gives the designers another $50, so they go back to Mood for more fabric. It seems like five minutes pass before Tim brings the models in for their fittings.

Ricky’s really optimistic about his and Kit’s apron dress. Surprisingly, he doesn't cry about it. Jillian’s freaking out because she remembers that Victorya has immunity for this challenge, so if the judges don’t like their garments, Jillian’s ass is out.

Christian demonstrates how the models should walk. If I walked like that, I’d dislocate my hip or throw my back out or something. But Christian, being all young and limber and such, works it like a champ.

Rami keeps nagging and micromanaging my girl Sweet P, so much so that she starts crying. I officially hate Rami now.

Tim brings in some guy from Tressemme to consult with the designers. Something about translating the avant-garde hairstyle into something you and I can do when we're rushing off to work and only have 10 minutes to spend on our hair. The winning team’s designs and hairstyles will appear in Elle magazine.

Pfft. Whatever. I already know who it's NOT going to be...

With four hours left to go, Tim checks in with Team Fierce, and is concerned with their ready-to-wear look, that it doesn’t translate well from the avant garde. He checks in with Kit and Ricky, questioning whether their garment is too costume-y. He questions whether Rami and Sweet P’s garment is avant garde enough. Tim's worried. At this point, Rami brings up the difficulties in their working relationship, as if that's any excuse. Team Bland hasn’t even started their second look yet. Hello? Four hours. Get it together, ladies! Jillian, switch your robot setting to turbo, honey!

At the sewing machine, Jillian actually has a human moment when she freaks out and almost bangs her head against an invisible wall.

On the day of the runway show, Jillian starts on the second garment. Seeing as how I ALREADY KNOW WHO GETS THE AUF, I’m not even excited about the prospect of Jillian the Robot getting kicked off for putting together a dress in what seems like an hour.

Hair and makeup. Yadda yadda.

Sidebar: Heidi’s runway dress with the asymmetrical ruched neckline? HOT. I totally want it.

Alberta Ferretti is tonight’s guest judge.

Let’s start the show!

Rami and Sweet P’s corset dress was pretty and edgy, but I thought the black pants underneath was incongruous to the rest of the outfit. I mean, it wasn't really avant garde; it was more like the model tried on that dress in the dressing room and never took off her pants.

Team Fierce’s “Angels in America”-meets-Auntie Mame-meets-Can Can was over the top in a delightful, theatrical way. I loved, loved, loved the multiple ruffles of 46 yards of fabric or whatever, thankyouverymuch. Christian’s RTW look was pretty much typical Christian with the pleating/ruffling down the middle.

Ricky and Kit’s dress looked like a big Cinderella hoop-skirted ballgown – that is, Cinderella before the ball. The RTW dress looked like something out of a Butterick pattern or something.

Team Bland’s jacket was perfect. So military. So punk rock. So ... Tartan. I thought Jillian's RTW dress didn’t match this theme at all. It was too cute and girly compared to the structured (dare I say it?) fierceness of the avant-garde look.

As expected (from the shows's editing and the fact that Bravo robbed me of any sense of suspense tonight), Sweet P and Rami's team and Ricky and Kit's team had the lowest scores.

Michael Kors said Team Fierce's dress was “heaven.” Very “soignée.” Don't make me look that up.

Team Bland says their look is along the lines of punk rock equestrian. Good to know I got that impression right away. NINAGARCIA didn’t really mind the RTW dress, and I think NINAGARCIA needs glasses. That dress was as boring as watching Victorya and Jillian flip a disc to decide who gets to be the team leader.

Rami tells Heidi that he was thinking of creating some kind of dichotomy between hard and soft with his garment. Kors thought Sweet P’s RTW dress was more forward-looking than Rami’s. Vindication for Sweet P, thank Jah. Sweet P, ever the diplomat, said that Rami really wanted to "take control of his design." You just know Sweet P wanted to roll her neck and be all like,

"Heidi, this bitch is crazy!"

Any damn way, Rami's counterargument to that was that she and he "work differently." Kors counters back, saying that the best design teams are usually those whose designers don’t see eye-to-eye to begin with. You know. Diversity of ideas, or something. So there.

Alberta Ferretti thinks Kit’s dress was a cheap Scarlet O’Hara. Heidi says it’s not well made. NINAGARCIA brings up the whole “If I were going to use this for Elle” argument, saying that this would not be something she’d pick.

And you know when NINAGARCIA starts on the whole "What Would Elle Magazine Do?" angle, girlfriend's serious.

During deliberations, Heidi shows some frustration at Rami, the draping wonder. She didn’t like how he threw Sweet P under the bus, and I think she wants to start seeing something new from him other than his signature, wonderfully draped evening gown. I couldn’t agree more.

Rami, you and your eyes had me at hello, but you and your ego lost me with your micromanagement of Sweet P. Sigh.

Kors wonders if Kat and Ricky even know what avant garde means. (And in case you don't, Dear Reader, click here.) NINAGARCIA said their garments were amateurish. Ouch.

Sidebar: Millionaires have a certification process? I’ve already decided that I will hate Bravo's “The Millionaire Matchmaker.” What is up with this network glorifying the lives of the bored, wealthy, and vapid? Leave that shit to M T V, for crying out loud.

Christian, as team leader, wins the challenge and gets immunity for the next challenge. He’s loving this win, because since he’s so young, he “doesn’t have much press yet.”

Kit, as team leader, is out.

But I knew that already.

Next week: Jillian is a bit of a drama queen. Who knew?

Why Emeril is one corny ass mofo

2008-01-12T14:26:00.001-08:00

If you can't read that, it says "Roasted Gaaahlic."

Pick some up next time you buy EVOO while you're at it. Ugh.

(Thanks to Alvin for the photo.)

Project Runway After Party - Season 4

2008-01-09T23:02:00.000-08:00

Episode 7: "What a Girl Wants"
(or, alternatively,"Designers, don't even think about not finishing your hems!")

The sun rises over the horizon, and we see the designers getting ready for the day. We finally see how Christian gets his hair like that (hairdryer).

Rami has immunity for this week’s challenge, which is to make an outfit for one of the most important days in a woman’s life. Rami hopes it’s not for a wedding dress. Me neither, because I don't think I could handle a sappy episode right now.

Heidi calls out a bunch of New Jersey Catholic schoolgirls, who walk out in khaki skirts and white polo shirts. The designers are going to be making prom dresses, and the designers are relieved. Except Christian, who thinks prom is “horrible and tacky and gross.”

The kids got to chose their own designers themselves after looking at their portfolios. Chris March warns his client to not get too scared, because he might design some Beach Blanket Babylon outfit!

This is gonna be gooood.

In the workroom, Tim tells the designers that they’ll have strong ideas about the dresses, but they have to remember that they’ll need to also assert their own personal style.
Budget: $250
Time: One and a half (?) days

Upon consulting with their clients:

Kevin asserts his Jerz street cred while publicly declaring that he’ll put a chastity belt inside the dress, just how mom likes it.
Victorya’s client got last pick, so it's not like she really wanted to pick Victorya, although her client does her best to convince her that she did. Burn!
Sweet P has to struggle with a client who wants a really revealing, ivory dress.
Christian’s fabulous client takes the pencil out of Christian’s hand and starts telling him that she wants a train, and gold, and lace. Christian wants to cry.

At Mood (whose tote bags I TOTALLY WANT, by the way), the designers choose their fabrics, yadda yadda.

We see Christian’s prom picture. I think he looks way better with a mohawk.

Jillian wants to make a “mosaic” of a dress. Everyone reminisces about their prom days, and Kit reveals that she was a little OC prom princess. Chris March tells a Flintstone/caveman gay joke, which is funny considering my boss refers to him as “Fred Flintstone Gay.” Ricky (whom my boss refers to as “Thomas the Train Gay”) calls his mom on his T-Mobile Sidekick and starts crying again. I have the sinking feeling that we’ll be seeing a lot more Ricky tears this episode to make up for the dearth of Ricky tears in the last episode.

So far, the editors have focused on Jillian (“Is my hair bigger than usual today?”), Sweet P, and Ricky. Oh yeah, and way too much Christian, Mr. “I’m not going to let a high school girl push me around. Hmm. I wonder which one is getting cut this episode?

It’s the next day, and we’re back from commercial and everyone’s doubting their designs. Victorya decides to change the silhouette, with the approval of Christian.

Tim brings in the daughters and their mothers. Kevin’s client’s mom says she looks pregnant in the dress, but he tells her it’s part of that new babydoll style. Nice save.

Victorya’s model ends up liking the new silhouette because it makes her legs look hot.

Sweet P’s client loves the dress. Christian’s client hates her dress.

“I’m not a dressmaker; I’m a designer,” he says.

I’m having trouble ascertaining the difference, but okay, Christian, whatever you say.

Kevin tells Tim that he may leave the hem raw, thinking the judges won’t notice. Um, hello? What show do you think you’re on? That NINAGARCIA has eyes like a hawk!

Tim tells Christian that he’s concerned about the dress. He doesn’t hate Christian’s dress, and reminds him that he’s too good and too talented to give up.

Kevin still refuses to hem the dress, despite Chris’ warnings to the contrary.

The next morning, Christian vows to make the most of his chocolate bubble dress.

Ricky made his prom date’s dress. Sweet P went to Catholic school. Chris March didn’t go to his prom. Rami grew up in Jerusalem, where they don’t have prom.

Christian’s client is annoying as all hell, and I hope that I wasn’t like that when I was their age.

On to the runway!

Sweet P’s dress? Gorgeous and flowy. Victorya’s? Cute, young, flirty, babydoll. Chris March’s? Glamorously commercial. Kevin’s? I think the red halter made her look stocky. Jillian’s? Nice and flowy and airy, but I hate asymmetrical hems. Christian’s? Brown pouf. The model tried to work it, though. Kit’s? Sporty. Ricky’? Stiff, but ultra feminine. Rami’s? A variation on the dress he made in the first episode.

Kit, Jillian, and Chris make it to the next round and are sent off the runway.

That means Sweet P, Victorya, Christian, Rami, Kevin and Ricky have to stay for critique.
This week’s judges are Michael Kors, NINAGARCIA, and Gilles Mendel (guest judge).

The judges loved Sweet P’s dress (yay!).

Kevin mentions that his model is Filipino, which, apparently means that she must wear red or something. I beg to differ. Kors says that he is distracted by the hemming. We told you so! They hated it. “It looks like $29.95 prom,” Kors says.

Victorya says that she thinks the dress is what her client wanted to project herself to be, whatever that means. Her model loves the dress though, so I guess that’s all that matters.

Christian tells the judges that his client is very opinionated, at which point the girl acts all shocked. Whatever, honey. Own it. NINAGARCIA reminds Christian that being a good designer also requires that he have some tact when dealing with clients, and doesn’t like that he’s blaming his client for her ugly design aesthetic. Word, Nina. Word.

Ricky says that the girl inside him would wear that dress. His client loves it, but NINAGARCIA says the bottom ruching looks sloppy. Kors and Heidi tell Ricky that the dress is kind of bland. That it’s a “non-event.” Ricky starts to tear up. Shocker!

Heidi says that Rami’s dress is too “lady who lunches.” NINAGARCIA says the dress is too sophisticated for a teenage girl. Rami upholds his design aesthetic.

Victorya wins the challenge and has immunity for the next challenge.

Kevin gets the Auf.

Next week looks like another group challenge! We shall see …

Helvetica, the movie

2008-01-09T21:06:00.000-08:00

Don't confuse legibility with communication. Just because something is legible, doesn't mean it communicates. And, more importantly, [it] doesn't mean it communicates the right thing. ---David Carson

I finally got around to watching Gary Huswit's documentary about your favorite font and mine, Helvetica. I know I'm late. I didn't hear about the SF screening until after it was over. So sue me. Anyway. From the film's web site:

Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which is celebrating its 50th birthday this year) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives.

Forgive this ultra-geeky episode of mine, but if you appreciate fonts at all, you'll love this movie.

Update your Netflix queues now. Trust. It's such a great discussion about this font, graphic design, and typography in general. Interview subjects include the guy who did the signs for the NYC subway, the guy who designed the fonts Georgia and Verdana, the guy who designed the Meta typeface (a font of a previous employer), the art director for the now-defunct Ray Gun magazine, and industry people with famous last names like Hoefler and Zapf.

Aww yeah. One word for font enthusiasts: Fontgasm. I'm just saying.

Photo: "Helvetica as Metallica," Yann Serandour. Lifted from here. Why not go for the obvious helvetica-font picture? Because it's a font. Someone made a movie about it. If that's not fucking hardcore, I don't know what is, man.

Our Lady of Perpetual Craziness

2008-01-08T16:07:00.001-08:00

Britney Spears as hyper stylized, garden fairy nymph/Virgin Mary? Best piece of pop culture art. Ever.

Unfortunately, I don't know who the original artist is, so if you're out there reading this, mad props to you. One love.

(Courtesy of Perez Hilton. Don't judge!)

Rainy Day Friday Morning Tea Blogging

2008-01-04T10:58:00.000-08:00

As with all things Japanese, this is just cute.

Two leaves and a bud. Por vida.

(Props to Rich for the link, courtesy of Steap.)

Project Runway After Party - Season 4

2008-01-02T23:00:00.000-08:00

Episode 5: "Eye Candy"
(or, alternatively, "Sweet P, you better stop listening to Christian, y'hear?")

And we’re back! Did you miss me?

Kevin laments at how they’re “dropping like flies” at this point. Sweet P’s “elated” that she’s made it this far. Kit is looking fierce with her scarf.

At Parsons, Heidi goes on her spiel about the models, etc. Two models have to go, yadda yadda. Are the models genuinely happy to be paired with a certain designer, or are they just in it for themselves? I ponder this question while the rest of the designers go through the boring process of choosing their models.

Hey Bravo, next time, when you bring out the models, make sure Heidi’s not wearing the same kind of dress they are, mmmkay? Fabulous.

Heidi tells the designers that they have a field trip coming, but that they should go back to the New Gotham apartments (or whatever it is you call their accommodations) to rest. What, are they filming this shot at 2 a.m. or something?

At 6 a.m. the next day, Tim Gunn wakes the designers up and tells them to get dressed and meet him in the lobby. Kit’s cracking up because she answered the door in her pajamas.

“I didn’t even have my bra on!”

I hear you, girl. That’s totally embarrassing.

I see one of the girls with what appears to be a canvas shopping bag from Mood. I TOTALLY WANT ONE.

So Tim leads the designers to Time Square, their destination? The Hershey’s store.

“Great, we get to make shit out of candy,” Christian says.

You got it, sister!

The Hershey’s store representative is a little too “on” for my taste. As in, someone totally rehearsed her talking points!

Budget? No budget, thanks to Hershey’s I begin to daydream back to the days of Season One in which the product placements seemed a little more subtle.

Chris grabs all the pillows. Miz Robot picks Twizzlers. Christian decides he’s going to use Reese’s peanut butter cup wrappers for his garment.

Time’s up, and the designers leave with their goodies, while the Hershey’s rep wishes them a “sweet day.”

Seriously. She did. Ugh.

Tim tells the designers back at Parsons that they have until midnight to finish the garments. Double ugh.

Christian! You are throwing away all of those perfectly good Reese’s peanut butter cups. You bitch. Still love you, though.

Elisa decides to make a dress for her daughter, Calliope. She tells us that she got hit by a Porsche in London as she was about to launch a clothing line in London. She sees this stint on Project Runway as a way to reclaim the life she could have had if she didn't get hit by that car.

Do you smell that? It smells like foreshadowing!

Christian is done with his garment early, so he decides to offer feedback to the rest of the designers. He manages to dissuade Sweet P from continuing with her original garment, a teal blue and brown dress that incorporated smashed-up coffee mugs in a mosaic pattern. He tells her it needs a bit of editing, so Sweet P decides to make another skirt.

Girl, don’t give in! This is a competition? Do I need to remind you?

Kevin vows to mention, in every forthcoming interview, that he will off him. Christian, that is. Surprisingly, I don't object this time.

Tim comes around to critique everyone’s dresses. Elisa’s dress is apparently inspired by Someone Von-Something’s take on a Hansel and Gretel dress. I know, I don’t get it either. Tim is worried. Jillian shares her concern about the tedium involved in making the Twizzlers bodice. Sweet P is starting over on a new skirt, per Christian's instructions. Tim says her new skirt looks like a coffee filter or a MAXI PAD. I almost spit out my tea at that. Understandably, Sweet P is freaking out. Tim Gunn, you're so nasty. I love it!

Midnight is quickly approaching, and Elisa is quick to point out the Cinderella parallel. Meanwhile, Sleeping Beauty --- er, I mean, Chris --- is snoring on the couch.

The designers go home for the evening, and Jillian’s Twizzler bodice is falling apart.

The next morning, Christian proclaims that the workroom is a “tranny mess up in here.” Is that code?

The models come in for a fitting. I’m surprised none of them have dived into Christian’s garbage can full of Reese’s peanut butter cups.

Don’t act like you wouldn’t.

Jillian’s model decides to help her hand-stitch the Twizzlers. Christian proceeds with the shit talking.

On to the runway!

Heidi just said something about proceeds going to some organization that helps fight breast cancer and I totally missed it. Let’s start the show!

Ricky’s garment was totally fun and playful. Chris’s dress was surprisingly toned down. Yay Chris! Kit’s dress is made out of Kit Kat wrappers (of course!). Elisa’s garment reminded me of fleurchons from seasons past, causing me to convulse. Kevin’s dress was super elegant, even if it did have a bolero jacket. Christian’s dress was really pretty as well, even though I still won't forgive him for wasting pounds and pounds of perfectly good Reese's peanut butter cups. Sweet P’s dress was very feminine, but something in the finishing left much to be desired. Rami’s dress looked very futuristic and sexy. Jillian the Robot's Twizzler dress totally worked. Phew. Victorya’s ruffled concoction looked like an off-kilter lederhosen-y dress. Zac Posen looked disturbed by it.

Ricky, Christian, Kit, and Kevin make it to the next round.

That leaves Jillian, Rami, Elisa, Victorya, Chris and Sweet P to stay behind for critique.

Zac says that Rami’s dress was well constructed and fits her perfectly.

Oh yeah. Zac Posen's the guest judge for this episode. Moving on ...

The judges love Jillian’s dress. Kors says it’s “deliciously chic.” I agree - she really worked hard to make this dress work, and it shows. I'm not really a Twizzlers fan, though. I'm a Red Vines kinda girl. I think it's a regional thing. But I digress.

Kors says that Elisa's brown velvet dress looks like something from the flea market. That it robbed him of his joy. The judges obviously have a problem with Victorya’s dress – it’s not wearable. It’s Dairy Queen in lederhosen, for crying out loud!

Chris says he tries to recreate something Warhol-ish. Kors thought he was going to go over-the-top, but that he made a great editing choice. NINAGARCIA throws out the “would I shoot this for Elle?” standard, which Chris passes just fine.

Sweet P’s dress, according to Heidi, was boring. NINAGARCIA thought it looked too easy. And sad. Kors is again robbed of his joy. I was underwhelmed. Shoulda kept the mosaic, girlfriend.

During deliberations, we learn that it’s neck and neck between Rami and Jillian. Rami’s got her on the detail, but Jillian might have an edge because she actually used something edible. The judges also decree that Chris actually does have taste after all, contrary to popular belief.

Rami wins the challenge and gets immunity will have immunity for the next episode.

Elisa is out, and I’m really sad to see her go!

I still think Sweet P should have stuck to her mosaic dress. Girl, you got lucky this time.

UPDATE, 1/4/08: Hot damn, I do love me some recaps from Season One Winner Jay McCarroll:

"some people are cute when they sleep...chris march snoring...not so cute."

Auld Lang Syne

2008-01-01T01:22:00.001-08:00

Bloggers, help a sister out

2007-12-31T14:52:00.001-08:00

What do you guys use to see who links to your blog? I'm not talking blogrolls here, I'm talking about knowing who links to a particular post of yours, or to your blog in general.

I was using Technorati's watchlist thingy, but they've changed it and I have no idea how to find what I need anymore.

What do you recommend that's easy to use? This may come as a surprise to you, but I'm not exactly tech savvy.

Make It Stop: ?uestlove's reaction to "2 Girls, 1 Cup"

2007-12-29T19:00:00.000-08:00

If you know anyone in college right now, I'm sure they've made you watch that nasty-ass flick, "2 Girls, 1 Cup." I'm not linking to that madness. You can YouTube that ish.

That video has spawned oodles of videos that highlight people's reactions to the video itself. This video, showing ?uestlove's reaction, is my FAAAAAAAVORITE. Courtesy of Nigga Know.

One love.

(If you can't see the video, click here instead.)

Wii, Wii, Wii

2007-12-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

My cousin and her husband scored a Nintendo Wii for Xmas this year, and we spent most of Xmas eve playing tennis on the Wii. She and I were both on the tennis team in high school, which made for some pretty interesting rallies.

That being said, I think I can take on this kid - his backhand sucks:

Hello Kitty. For the Menz.

2007-12-28T11:47:00.001-08:00

The good folks at Sanrio have announced that they're launching a Hello Kitty line of clothing and accessories tailored to an often-neglected segment of their demographic: Men.

Yeah. Good luck with that one. It's bad enough that, in Thailand, wearing Hello Kitty armbands is considered a form of punshment.