Wednesday, September 26, 2007

I'll have the quesadilla...

I rarely cover one of the pillars of pop culture on this blog: music. But my latest obsession is worth sharing, if for no other reason than some of you may enjoy mocking me.

I have never liked Nickelback. In fact, I'd put them in a category with DMB, Hootie and the Blowfish, Counting Crows and a number of other bands that I give the "big B" to ("B" for "blow(s)"). Really really dislike Nickelback. Always change the station when one of their songs comes on. And then one day, they re-release what is probably their most ridiculous and annoying song.

And I love it.

I listen to it every day and I walk around the house singing it and laughing. Oh yes, boys and girls, I'm talking about Rockstar. I can't even begin to explain what I love about this song, although I'll cite the video and the commentary by Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top) as two reasons, but it's more than that. I can't put my finger on it, but for some reason I just find this song really amusing and really catchy and it makes me happy when it comes on the radio.

True story.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

And so it begins...

So far, we've had How I Met Your Mother and Dancing with the Stars.

The HIMYM premier was freaking awesome. I don't even know what the funniest part was...either the ending (http://www.slapcountown.com/) or the "tramp stamp" (specifically Barney's reaction to it; who knew Doogie Howser would go on to be a great comedic actor? His timing is awesome.)

As for DWTS, I don't have much to say, yet, except that the star I was most looking forward to was Mark Cuban and he did not disappoint! He was awesome! I'm not sure who I'd send home from the guys, but I agree with the judges on the lady who should head home: Josie Maran. She just was...blah. The guys, though...they held their own tonight. A lot of people were surprisingly good for the first week. At this point, I'd say it's wide open. My favorite new professional dancer: whoever's dancing with the Cheetah Girl. Their dance was awesome and he seems to have a lot of personality. Maybe I should learn his name...

I apologize for the excessive use of the word "awesome" and for the brevity. DWTS is about to end, though, so I have to get back to work. Woo, marketing textbook, here I come!

I'm back!

So, I probably shouldn't be devoting too much time to pop culture, much less blogging about it, but...it's TV season. And I love TV season. So, I'm going to do a quick catch up on the books I've read/movies I've seen, but I'll probably be keeping any actual commentary to TV for the foreseeable future.

And yes, I will eventually post to my Boston to Austin blog. In fact, I can't wait to share all my Austin adventures with you guys, but I just haven't had the time. That, and I want to start with a post about our road trip, but right now I can't seem to get the pictures from my camera to the computer. Gotta work on that.

So, real quick, books I've read: The Killer Angels (for my fellow Whedon fans, he's said in a few interviews that this book partially inspired Firefly) and the Harry Potter series. I needed some light reading leading up to the move and since starting school. Speaking of, I'm about to finish book 7 and I'd really love some recommendations for another series I could pick up. Preferably something light, easy-to-read and easy to get in to.

Movies I've seen: Arsenic and Old Lace (really weird), Superbad and Shoot 'em Up. Um, Superbad lived up to the title. And Shoot 'em Up was weird in an entirely different way than Arsenic and Old Lace. I wanted to see it because it had Paul Giamatti and Clive Owen and I like action films, etc. But wow...the plot was even thinner than it usually is in action movies. It was pretty much just an excuse to showcase a lot of violent action sequences.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Overdue...

So, I've been saving this post for six weeks or more now thinking that I'd eventually come back to this and write something a little longer and a bit more thoughtful, but it's clear that's not going to happen, so instead I'm just going to bite the bullet and post my immediate reactions to Schindler's List.

In other news, my new project is to develop the ability to read more than one book at a time. The list of books I want to read is so long and this would allow me to read a lot more books because I could read other books while stalled on a book that I like, but isn't a page turner for me, like Schindler's List or The Killer Angels, which is what I've been reading since I finished Schindler's List. Another new project is to read all the Harry Potter books before I move. We'll see how either one goes.

Anyway, on to the overdue post...

Schindler's List

Well, it only took me two months or so (maybe more, I'm not even sure), but I did finally finish reading Schindler's List. I'm sure everyone knows the story (and it's a bit complicated to review the plot of non-fiction, eh?), so I'll keep my review to the actual writing, which I didn't love. I really hate when authors "break the fourth wall," so to speak. Don't address me directly. Don't tell me your purpose in writing the book. If it's not clear to me without you explicitly stating it, perhaps you should rethink your career as an author. What I did like was that Thomas Keneally did not canonize Schindler (although, he unfortunately stated explicitly several times that he wasn't.). It makes him all that much more admirable to me; he wasn't a hero, he was just a man who did the right thing at a time when that was hard to do.

Anyway, I'm a little embarassed to say it, but I think for the second time in the short history of this blog, I'm going to say "skip the book, watch the movie." Man, it goes against every fiber of my future-librarian body to say that. And twice in the span of a few months. Ugh. Of course, in the name of full disclosure I must admit that I haven't seen the movie in ten years while the book is still fresh in my mind. Still, I don't think you can ever go wrong with Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Passing time on a Friday...

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Truth is Stranger than Fiction

"Dick in a Box" was nominated for an Emmy.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Princess Bride

You may recall that in an early post in this blog I reviewed the book version of The Princess Bride and wondered what Cary Elwes was up to these days. ABC News has the answer and the accompanying photo is not pretty.