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January 31, 2009
1837: Uh! Uh! Happy Birthday!
Today is my brother's birthday -- let's destroy a cake!
Posted by ashley at 02:56 PM | TrackBack
January 29, 2009
1836: Renee Dunaway is really, really, ridiculously good looking.
I'm just saying.
Click here visit her official site.
Posted by ashley at 08:21 PM | TrackBack
January 28, 2009
1835: I have never seen this before in my life.
But to be fair, 80% of my diet is candy -- so, what do I know?
Posted by ashley at 09:10 PM | TrackBack
January 27, 2009
1834: This does not please me.
Johnston close to 'Fabulous'
Actress in talks to join Fox sitcom
By Michael Schneider (Variety, 1/27/09)
Kristen Johnston ("3rd Rock From the Sun") is in talks to star in Fox's new take on Britcom "Absolutely Fabulous."
Johnston table-read the "AbFab" script for Fox execs on Friday; the net picked up the project to pilot shortly after that.
Other thesps participating in the pre-pickup table read included Kathryn Hahn ("Revolutionary Road").
There's no guarantee that any of the actors that participated in the read will move on to the pilot, but if she does continue, Johnston would play the role popularized in the British original by Jennifer Saunders.
The original "AbFab" starred Saunders as boozy fashion publicist Edina.
As for Johnston, the actress two Emmys for her role as Sally Solomon on "3rd Rock," which ran from 1995 to 2001. More recently, she recurred on "ER" and "Sex and the City." Johnston also appeared in the feature "Strangers With Candy" and is in "Bride Wars."
Christine Zander is the writer on "AbFab," and is exec producing with Sanders, Ian Moffitt, Mitch Hurwitz, Eric Tannenbaum and Kim Tannebaum. Sony TV, Tantamount and BBC Worldwide Americas will produce.
Nothing against Kristen Johnston, of course. I just don't want to see this thing happen at all. Also, did Variety misspell "Saunders" there? There's really nothing that irks a person named Saunders more than being called "Sanders," let me tell you. Well, other than HAVING THIS SHOW BUTCHERED!
Posted by ashley at 07:39 PM | TrackBack
January 26, 2009
1833: That's what I'm talking about.
Posted by ashley at 10:09 PM | TrackBack
January 23, 2009
1832: This'll do.
And here I was trying to find an animated GIF of Hurley throwing a Hot Pocket at Ben, but I stumbled on this...
And that's about all I can do today. I'm sorry -- it's been a long week!
Posted by ashley at 11:37 PM | TrackBack
January 22, 2009
1831: "How about a magic trick?"
Posted by ashley at 10:39 PM | TrackBack
January 20, 2009
1830: "I wanna see them get crunk with it."
As I write this, my brother and his lovely girlfriend are standing outside the Youth Ball in DC, freezing, and waiting for their chance to get their dance on with the Obamas. And knowing this has of course filled me with jealousy, but it has enabled me to know one of my heart's deepest, darkest desires...
I want to see the Obamas put on Raybans and, like drunken wedding guests, bust a move Blues Brothers-style.
My heart is already so full of Obama-love, it's practically bursting. But if they'd hit the open bar and break it down on the dance floor, my God... I think my heart would explode. Naturally, this would follow Malia and Sasha leading the crowd in the Electric Slide.
Chris, I hope the Youth Ball lives up to my imaginary hype.
Posted by ashley at 09:02 PM | TrackBack
January 18, 2009
1829: So, the Scarecrow is also a physicist?
We enjoyed Sunshine so much, we've actually watched it three times in total within the span of a week -- one time being with the DVD commentary of the movie's scientific adviser, Dr. Brian Cox, and one being with the commentary of the film's director, Danny Boyle. Whether that's weird or obsessive, we neither know nor do we really care.
Dr. Cox mentioned something about having a physical resemblance to lead actor, Cillian Murphy. Although he was sort of joking...
That's kinda weird!
Posted by ashley at 04:34 PM | TrackBack
January 17, 2009
1828: Pardon me while I ruin this blog.
At Chris's urging, I've made the mistake of bringing Twitter into my life.
I don't actually anticipate using it for its intended purpose (does anyone, really?), mostly because I'd rather the world not know what I'm doing at any given moment. If you're really that interested, I think it's safe to assume that whatever I'm up to involves some combination of baking and firearms.
I've yet to find a way to properly integrate the Twitter feeds into the blog and vice versa, and any efforts to do so only further make a case for my switching to another blogging platform. Chris made a case for Wordpress earlier but I'm not fully swayed. In the meantime, I apologize for any glitches and layout screw-ups while we update things around here.
Edited to add: And, as an aside to The Incredible Amoeba, it seems Crispin Glover is also trying his hand at Twitter. Not quite as intimate as giving him directions, but it'll suffice.
Posted by ashley at 08:20 PM | TrackBack
1827: Oh, Jumbo Bucks... You got what I need!
I can't help but see this...
and immediately think of this...
Posted by ashley at 06:17 PM | TrackBack
January 14, 2009
1826: "Killer bubbles be damed."
Patrick McGoohan died yesterday.
Now, I know some of you will read that and it won't mean a whole hell of a lot. But I ask that you respect the fact that it means quite a lot to my brother, the only person in the world capable of choosing a Halloween costume more obscure than my own.
To be fair, those are costumes from entirely different Halloweens and someone actually did know who Chris was meant to be -- but given that person is French, I'm not sure it counts. Also, for the record, I don't consider my costume above to be even remotely obscure; I just think there's a lot of very foolish people in the world. My brother's costume, however, legitimately obscure. In fact, I was shocked to see The Prisoner mentioned on Gawker today.
Maybe I ought to dress as a killer bubble next Halloween.
Posted by ashley at 09:06 PM | TrackBack
January 13, 2009
1825: "The Pundits of Metal"
"They ought to form some kind of consultancy," says Chris.
I think VH1 might already have them on retainer.
Posted by ashley at 10:24 PM | TrackBack
January 12, 2009
1824: Bunny Love
I used to think that every human could be categorized as being, essentially, either a "cat person" or a "dog person" -- with some small group forming the intersection of these two groups in a kind of Venn diagram encompassing of all humanity. The outliers -- anyone who inexplicably can't enjoy the friendship of an animal -- are adrift in a sea of nothingness where they belong.
But when I found a small rabbit thrust into my hands in the middle of a crowded petstore several years ago, it dawned on me that there was yet another type of person in the world... the "rabbit person." And I'm one of them.
"Amazing Photography of Bees and Bunnies and More, Oh My!"
(BoingBoing, 1/9)
Standard of Perfection: American Show, Kate Kunath.
"One might never guess that I consciously avoided the use of irony in creating a portrait series at the 81st Annual American Rabbit Breeders Association Convention. My subjects approached their work with sincerity and I intended to capture that as they passed through my portable studio. With each subject, similarities between the rabbits and their handlers became more evident, and the humor was virtually irresistible. The real challenge presented itself as I attempted to portray them as they saw themselves- dignified, specialized professionals in pursuit of an established Standard of Perfection."
Posted by ashley at 08:37 PM | TrackBack
January 11, 2009
1823: I just feel kinda...
Posted by ashley at 09:57 PM | TrackBack
1822: "For seven years I spoke with God. He told me to take us all to Heaven."
I was wrong when I told my brother that we'd finally watched Sunshine some eight years after the rest of the world had. Firstly, I don't think the rest of the world watched it -- just a small but highly vocal group of individuals who sought to nag me into watching it when it was in theaters. I attribute my lack of interest to the crappy name. Secondly, it came out in 2007, which is not eight years ago, regardless of what sort of calendar system you employ. Personally, I go with the Julian, but I'm a bit old fashioned that way.
In any event, we finally sat down to watch it. And OMG!
We ended up watching the DVD commentary with Dr. Brian Cox, who served as the film's scientific adviser. It's definitely worth doing, regardless of how many years you've let elapse since the film's release, or since the expansion of the sun beyond the Earth's orbit, etc.
Posted by ashley at 01:27 PM | TrackBack
January 10, 2009
1821: Boldly going where I've reluctantly gone before.
I've just said goodbye to several dozen carefully constructed playlists, lovingly crafted on various Macs over the course of several years and even more lovingly enjoyed on different generations of iPods and MP3 players. (I say this with a solemn, heavenward gaze because any portable music device finding itself in my possession ought to be warned, "the grim reaper is visiting with you."*) Well, sorta -- they still exist on the Mac laptop sleeping across the room, but connecting my iPod to my current flame meant reformatting the iPod and starting anew. A blank slate.
At first I felt excited to have the opportunity to put together a whole new set of playlists without being weighed down by the past... or something. And then I felt daunted by the prospect of having to start over from scratch -- that's a lot of work, and I'm probably just going to end up getting frustrated as I attempt to reconstruct the old playlists as I originally had them. And, of course, all of this gave way to an overwhelming desire to purchase shoes online.
* Waingro, anyone?
Posted by ashley at 06:52 PM | TrackBack
January 09, 2009
1820: Well, there's always this...
Although the past 24 hours certainly didn't have me thinking so! We'll be seeing Morrissey at Carnegie Hall in March, and not the Bowery Ballroom or Webster Hall as I'd been planning/stubbornly demanding/throwing fits over.
Posted by ashley at 07:49 PM | TrackBack
January 08, 2009
1819: The man I respect.
I just saw a little cross-promotional bit for Tim Roth's show and the NFL(?)... and Glamorous Glue was used in the background.
What?
Posted by ashley at 10:37 PM | TrackBack
1818: Happy freaky-freaky Birthday, Bowie
Posted by ashley at 07:22 PM | TrackBack
January 07, 2009
1817: CELEBRITY SIGHTING: AUSTIN SCARLETT
This one is Pete's -- not mine -- which is remarkable because Pete never recognizes anyone famous, anywhere, at any time. Despite lacking the strong celebrity-recognition skills I myself possess in spades, Pete was able to accurately identify Project Runway's Austin Scarlett on an uptown-bound 6 train tonight. Like me, Scarlett wears a beret to combat the effects of humidity on one's hair, which only compounds the amount of respect I have for him.
I mean...
Obviously!
I, however, had no such encounter on my ride home. Instead, watched a Rastafarian jump off the downtown platform, stride nonchalantly across four very active subway tracks to climb onto the uptown platform as if it ain't no 'ting, mon. That he was Rastafarian struck me as significant because the whole thing, however leisurely in its execution, seemed to indicate an ambition I wouldn't normally associate with the lifestyle. I mean, it's not exactly the sort of thing you'd imagine Earl Chin doing, is it? Also, it was rush hour and there were trains flying through on a near constant basis -- avoiding these requires a speed you wouldn't necessarily assume a Reggae fan to be able to conjure up so readily.
He got on the train with me, and was met at the next stop by a friend with drums. Together, they put on a performance that lasted for the next four or five train stops and included the occasional, random outburst of the words "Obama!" and "James Brown!" Actually, these weren't that random -- this makes the second time I've sat through this particular performance while trying to get home at night. The patter between songs was identical to the patter I'd previously heard from the Rastafarian, in whom speeding 4, 5, and 6 trains instill no amount of fear whatsoever.
When the music stopped, the demands for money were a little too aggressive and that beret I was wearing (see above) came in handy as the aforementioned Rastafarian assumed me -- improbably -- to not speak English.
The End.
Posted by ashley at 08:47 PM | TrackBack
January 06, 2009
1816: To quote Pete #2
"Superman's assistant."
(You may know her as "Lois Lane.")
Posted by ashley at 09:19 PM | TrackBack
1815: Ruh-row is right!
No matter how many times I look at it, this never gets old.
Posted by ashley at 09:15 PM | TrackBack
January 05, 2009
1814: To quote Pete
"I saw Police Academy in the theater... you were four years old."
"THE BATMAN VOICE IS LIKE THIS!"
Posted by ashley at 09:31 PM | TrackBack
1813: I can't be the only person...
to turn on her TV, see the following, and think, "Thank God!"
Or maybe I am.
Posted by ashley at 07:23 PM | TrackBack
January 04, 2009
1812: The origins of muppets.
I'm ashamed to say I don't recall where I saw this, but here's a list from Mental Floss on the backstories of twenty of Jim Henson's muppets.
That Fozzie's comedic failures invited heckling from others, and resulted in his weeping makes me sad. Evidently Fozzie's optimism was a character trait developed to compensate for the embarrassment viewers felt on his behalf whenever he got verbally humbled for his shortcomings as a comedian. Personally, I always felt additionally pained by the fact that he managed to remain so upbeat in the face of so much taunting and nastiness. Of course, that didn't stop me from LOL'ing at my brother receiving the name "Fozzie" and promptly crashing a jeep full of xBox live team members into a wall. I envision him yelling "WOCKA WOCKA!" as they all burst into flames.
But, while we're on the subject... MAH NAH MAH NAH!
Posted by ashley at 08:07 PM | TrackBack
January 03, 2009
1811: The Nueve: "You don't even tell me when you're pooping!"
If the following things I overheard today are any indication, 2009 is going to be a really, really weird year.
"You wanted to know where I got that broccoli rabe... You wanted to go to the same place... I'm just in a bad mood! Dad ignores me!"
"In olden times, women had to give themselves abortions."
"She's going to kill herself."
"I hope!"
And my personal favorite...
"You don't even tell me when you're pooping!"*
* Frankly, if you're inclined to scream about his bodily functions in public, I don't blame him for not telling you these things.
Posted by ashley at 10:00 PM | TrackBack
January 02, 2009
1810: "les yeux sans visage"
Still in the Es of VH1 Classic's "2,009 for 2009" and this will be in my head for the rest of the afternoon...
"The 80's were big on that -- little bits of French in stuff," says Pete. Of course, so am I. We call it Franglais. Jon speaks it fluently.
Posted by ashley at 03:40 PM | TrackBack
1809: All LOLs and no play...
After about seventy years of neglecting MySpace, I logged back in to look at my messages and LOL'd heavily at the Incredible Amoeba's New Year's greetings:
Now, if you'll excuse me, this typewriter and I have a lot of work to do...
Posted by ashley at 01:24 PM | TrackBack
1808: Pete will not walk like an Egyptian, apparently.
VH1 Classic is playing nonstop music videos to celebrate the start of the new year -- "2,009 for 2009" or something to that effect. The video being played at this very moment is the Bangles' "Eternal Flame."
Pete's thoughts on the above:
"This is the Bangles? They sing this song? This song is like a joke. It's like a 5th grader wrote it."
SNAP!
Posted by ashley at 01:10 PM | TrackBack
January 01, 2009
1807: I can't see this once more.
"I don't have time for a complicated phone!"
Yeah, that's a lie. Lady, you've got nothing but time on your hands. In any event, I'm glad you're so happy with your toilet seat-shaped phone and the polite customer service reps willing to put up with your repeated requests to program your kids' phone numbers into the device you're holding in your goddamn hands.
Edited to add: Obviously, I haven't made any resolutions about calming down my misdirected rage. Maybe 2010 is the year for that!
Posted by ashley at 07:03 PM | TrackBack
1806: New year, new computer.
You'll be pleased to know that my blogging activities will now involve the use of a BRIGHT PINK COMPUTER -- a Christmas gift from Pete, who spent some portion of his evening last night assisting in the technical set-up of said laptop; namely, the selection of a background image.
Here's the winner:
Happy New Year, everyone!
Edited to add: The webcam on this thing makes me look like Lady Miss Kier. Either that, or I actually do look like her. Must be the catsuit.
