being that i'm of age now, i've been indulging in, well, the finer things in life, and considering i was pretty law-abiding up to this point, i don't feel too bad for treating myself to some good'ol liquid courage every once in a while. luckily, right in time for my 21st year of age, smirnoff has released this fabulous mixed drank that i've SO been enjoying lately- the pomegranate martini. and this is pretty friggen sweet for someone like me, who would never have the time or patience to follow oprah[ahem..rachael ray]'s recipe. $2o-somethin bucks at the ABC store ; which is..shieet, like 2.5 mixed drinks at the bar , minus all the ice they give you in those effers, so you can get this for the price of maybe 1 full drink? uhm, yeah. good stuff, ya heard it from me.
you ever watch a movie and afterward, you just feel so damn cool? i've been trying to figure out this transfer-of-coolness phenom. you'd think as a film school grad, it'd be easily explainable. but i guess terminology for this hasn't exactly evolved yet. so a goal of most movies is for the viewer to be able to see himself in the role of the main character/a supporting character. sometimes, however, this isn't easy, even if the movie is really good. ie. who the eff would i be in fight club? some movies you've just gotta take for what they are and not try to insert yourself into them. expanding on that, some characters are so cool that it is, in fact, hard to see yourself as them. these are main characters who follow the "hero" archetype - most notably your superheroes, james bonds, indiana joneses, lara crofts, etc. personally, i'm not a huge fan of these movies, but alot of people are. i like my character to be a little more relatable, and unless, of course, you're a cocky biznatch, it's hard as hell to put yourself in the role of superman. and then there's that unexpected cool. that swagger of the kid who owns the playground, but he wouldn't look it. your average joe who gets EVERYONE's respect. your ferris bueller. your literal T.J. from recess, as opposed to your king bob, who may be at the top, but isn't internationally respected. (shout-outs to recess!!) that cool, i feel, is attainable, and after watching a movie with an unexpectedly cool character, i feel cool myself. so, back to the film at hand. BRICK. i meant to see it a while ago when mr. fields put me on, and then i forgot about it. and then i remembered it, and got it on netflix, and then got busy. finally watched it the other day, and trust, i'm just now losing my post-brick swagger. joseph gordon-levitt (of stop-loss, or, best known as the cutie from angels in the outfield back in the dizzay, if you're my age) plays brendan, a seemingly average joe who turns into a supa-dupa-fly detective -reminiscent of sam spade in the maltese falcon, think 1940s b&w detective ish- when his sometimes girlfriend is murdered. in between high school classes (if he ever went to class at all?) he attempts to solve the mystery of her death and devise a clever homicide setup plan to avenge those responsible for it. i knew the film was most noted for being a fusion of film noir with a teen flick, so i proceeded with caution, preparing for some continuity issues. but for the most part, the storyline was surprisingly believable. the fact that the characters are still teens makes the situations more believable in a current context - ie. they don't have cell phones or cars, which wouldn't be too believable for adults in a current context, yanno? so it kind of HELPS with continuity in that regard. oh, and did i mention the slang? (if you know me, you know i have an affinity for slang) i'm talking cool '40s slang - or maybe, totally contrived slang - either way, it helps to have a remote so you can go back and turn the subtitles on. the off-the-wall slang, combined with brendan's unexpected rise in the proverbial high school hierarchy [from the kid who "ate lunch alone behind the portables" to pretty much having the kingpin of the school drug community and the most popular girl in school eating from the palm of his hand] all in a few days, nonetheless, is what makes this movie so damn cool. and oh, did i feel cool watching it. check it!
and now, i'd like to pause for a moment of silence to honor those who, when re-upping a diminishing supply of toilet paper, take the extra effort to put it back on the roll instead of leaving it on top of the old one like a lazy d**khole.
ok,so if you ever question the "realness" of the show, consider this: 1) WHY would i ever tell criss angel that i was a general's daughter? [i try to avoid that subject with pretty much everyone, so i'd definitely not tell him.] 2) have i EVER worn a damn pin??? staging is necessary for good tv, folks.
is something quite harmless, and REALLY obvious, if you know me well: list-making. [which is, in fact, part of the reason why i created this blog. although only like 1/42nd of all the lists i make end up here. that might tell you how crazy i am about list-making.] so, today's list is brought to you by the month of september, because so far this month's music releases (and leaks) have wreaked of scrotum sweat. (&no, i'm not downloading paper trail, good looking out though). but apparently this music drought should be over soon. so, without further adieu, here are, in no particular order:
5 Upcoming Albums that I'm Really Freaking Stoked For: jakeone - white van music now, i know i'm not the only one ready for this one. word has been circulating on hip-hop forums for the past month, and i bet there's an assload of people steady googling waiting for the leak. check the tracklisting. self-explanatory.
1. I'm Coming feat. Black Milk, Nottz 2. Gangsta Boy feat. M.O.P 3. The Truth feat. Freeway, Brother Ali 4. Turn It Down (Interlude) 5. God Like feat. D. Black 6. Bless The Child feat. Little Brother 7. Oh Really feat. Posdnuos (of De La Soul) 8. Hi (Interlude) 9. Trap Door feat. M.F. DOOM 10. Dead Wrong feat. Young Buck 11. Kissin The Curb feat. Bishop Lamont, Busta Rhymes 12. How We Ride feat. Freeway 13. White Van feat. Alchemist, Evidence (of Dilated Peoples), Prodigy 14. Big Homie Style feat. Alchemist, Evidence (of Dilated Peoples), Prodigy - 15. Scared feat. Blueprint 16. Great Sound (Interlude) 17. Get 'Er Done feat. M.F. DOOM 18. Feeling My Shit feat. Casual 19. Soil Raps feat. Keak Da Sneak 20. Glow feat. eLZhi, Royce da 5'9 21. R.I.P. (Interlude) 22. Home feat. Vitamin D, C Note, Maine, Ish
the foreign exchange - leave it all behind
another phonte & nicolay collab album? jesus must love me. no tracklisting yet, but here's an album sampler janked from 2dopeboyz.com ..
mf doom - born into this in true doom fashion, i really know very little about this album. obviously, no album artwork or tracklist has been released yet. i'm not sure if any tracks have even leaked yet. but here's what i do know about the new one from viktor vaughn: supposedly being released october 21st, supposedly featuring production from J Dilla and DJ Dangermouse supposedly "features some of DOOM's brightest and brilliant rhyme skills and production ever" supposedly features ghostface and raekown (nothing to get too excited about, but i'm not mad at it.)
regardless, i'm already excited for this. it feels like it's been years since i've heard anything really new from doom.
robin thick - something else okay, so i AM kinda mad at r.thicke's recent hissy fit over the fact that vibe magazine didn't slap his white ass on the cover, [but c'mon, ciara was offering to pose naked, can you really blame them?] but i'm really looking forward to his new one. dropping sep 30. Evolution of Robin Thicke was just too good. and i'm REALLY feeling that "magic" song.
but real talk, stick to your day job robin. there's no need for you to boycott the white man's rights in R&B music. something seems really backwards about that, anyway.
murs - murs for president i bet you were expecting this one on top of the list. fooled you, huh? no explanations needed for this one either. my favorite rapper is putting out a new album. i'm going to go back on xanax if this album sucks. but since i really don't wanna jinx it i'm just gonna shut up for now.
that you don't get the theme song from RENT stuck in your head. you know which one i'm talking about. that "five hundred sixty five thousand four hundred minutes" or whatever incredibly long increment of time makes up the chorus. no joke. it'll be there for DAYS at a time. it will be especially bad during inconvenient times. (doctors office, bank, elevators, etc.)
good luck, seeing as how i probably just got it stuck your humming that shit.
i had a shoot at a big office building in DC this morning, and i came across a brilliant little invention that totally made my morning 42 times better. it's called flavia , and it makes a custom-brewed cup of caffeinated goodness in less than a minute. how effn' cool is that? it can make cappuccinos, espressos, even teas, and all in individual servings. look which flavor i had this morning. =D =D
i'm in love. i almost wanna start my own company, just so i can get one'a these things. for rilla. <3
why do i LOVE LOVE LOVE aubrey o'day? [even though she's so deliciously hateable?] almost like, opposite-mariah-carey-syndrome. [enh, more on that later.] i mean, i hate that she's so obviously lying ab her boob job, [not like its anyone's business] and how she's trying to appeal to everybody, [best way to encourage a wide fan base, i guess] and how she was THIS CLOSE to going along with wendy, who dissed the sh*t outta the rest of DK. [but then again, it's wendy. she tends to bring out the something in people.]
oh yeah. UC irvine? & you didn't come from money? c'mon now. it's okay though. i still hearts you.
my girl clark gilmer, a USC student who we had as a host on SGTV's comedy show "chicken and toast" back in the dizzay, (a show that i produced) has made the cut on cycle 11 of America's Next Top Model! yeah, so she doesn't know what bureaucracy is. if i was that pretty, i may not either. kidding. kinda.
best of luck, hun!
and, just cause i can, Old Chicken and Toast shiz (clark's not on this one though), courtesy of frosty palm studios and youtube. won't let me embed for some reason. but check it.
you've heard it before. everything is the new version of something else. in other words, social trends and fashions happen in cycles (as my parents have informed me with every "new big thing" i try to create or adopt), and i've finally lived long enough to start seeing full cycles. case in point. mom used to make me wear stirrup pants and colored jeans. both are being sold in H&M for $6.50 and $18.50, respectively.
case in point #2. stilettos are in. chunky heels are in. stilettos are in again. [sh*t, and i just dropped my stilettos off at plato's closet last week.]
fashion, however, isn't the only thing that is cyclic. not being an avid disney channel watcher, i hoped i could remain ignorant of this new 'band' with a teen girl following comparable to that of the beatles (lord forgive me for typing that) - the JONAS BROTHERS. after some half-ass googling and consulting with some pre-teen acquaintances, i learned that bros. inc. are 3 "totally hot rock star brothers, and the middle one's the hottest". erm, wtf. hanson, anyone? (i mean, certainly, no disrespect to hanson or the beatles.) shotty music aside though, joe j. or taylor h. can get it any day. no homo.
and though global warming may really be global climate adjustment (cyclic change of earth's climate over time), there's no reason to not recycle more and drive less. and maybe as a result of that, "green is the new black", but this is just resurgence of concern for the earth-it certainly isn't anything new. the environmental movement began in the 70s (whatup, greenpeace), and boasted several accomplishments that should get head nods from hippies and non-hippes alike, most notably the clean water act, the endangered species act, and the clean air act. OT but, sorry hayden panitierre, save the whales is super old school too. maybe you're too young to remember free willy.
and speaking of willy. remember when big asses were "in" a few years ago? dang, i thought i was pretty hot for a minute. started embracing my german heritage and everything. but thanks to superfab stylish 12-year-olds like nicole richie and the olsens, 'waif is the new thick'. looks like i'm SOL.
and what of hip hop? my favorite of the world's evils? my husband said it best on "the biggest lie" :
the problem with hiphop? ...nothing at all-- it's an artform that ranges and it changes; it evolves
enh, im not too sure what to make of mainstream hip-hop nowadays. if the genre of hip-hop is cyclic, with the most thought-provoking and intelligent emcees spitting verses at the top, many would argue radio rappers are at the bottom. but you know what? in taking two steps back from america - which i'm more easily able to do thanks to the well-rehearsed speeches at the DNC and the RNC - i can kind of understand why we are where we're at (pardon my alliteration) in music right now. times are hard, homies. people got no health care, it costs like 80 bucks to fill up the escalade, mo'effers rationing the amount of rice you can buy at costco and sh&t. and in times like these, you can either talk about your problems, or run from 'em. celebrity entertainment news is more popular now than it's ever been. and hip hop? i guess it's the general consensus that no one wants to hear some 'conscious' BS that'll further sink them into depression about their current situation. i mean, i wanna snap my fangaz and 2-step and party like a rock star. don't you?
ignorance is bliss, after all.
real hip hop= the hero our culture deserves, but not necessarily the one it needs right now.
possible targets include, but are not limited to: reality television, film (esp. foreign & doc), "urban" art, literature, music, and anything and everything pop culture. point blank, i blog on what i'm interested in. if you don't like it, eat a fat rabbit.
