You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July, 2007.
(Newsflash! Newsflash, Applejack!! Apparently, TDL will be premiering at the Venice Film Festival alongside a 12 minute short film of Anderson’s co-starring Schwartzman and Natalie Portman! Awesome! And, contrary to previous rumors/beliefs, Portman’s part in TDL is only a cameo.)
Fox Searchlight has posted the official Darjeeling Limited site, and while there isn’t much up there yet, it is still pretty cool.
There are some production photos you can look at, my favorite being this one, a section with links to information about and photos of India, and lots of other interesting little things to play around with.
Can’t wait for this one, gang. It opens the New York Film Festival on September 29th and then will slowly, but surely make its way into a theater near us.
Owen, Jason, Adrien, Bill, Anjelica… Can you see how incredible this is going to be?
It’s been a pretty dry Summer for Grey’s updates around The Babble, but last season left me on uneven ground with our friends over at Seattle Grace Hospital. I felt that towards the end of the season, the show really started to lose its bearings and started to become one of those promiscuous soap operas I had avoided by getting into Grey’s in the first place. If you go here, you can read my review of the season finale, as well as a quote from Shonda Rhimes that gave me hope that Season 4 might be something different and something better. For the sake of this post, here’s that quote again:
“So that’s it. That was our season. I did my level best to burn it all down this season, to burn it to the ground so that we can have a place to build from next season. Burning it down was hard. But next season…oh, next season is all about the fun and the pain and the new beginnings. Because our interns are going to become residents. Because everyone is single again — well, there is the little matter of Izzie and George and Callie…but still…”
I was personally really glad to see that revelation from Rhimes. It was good to know that she understood that she pretty much destroyed everything they had built up. And while I always thought it was for the sake of cheap drama, I can see now that it was also for the sake of being able to rebuild everything in the fall.
Season 4 is going to be a huge change, let’s have a look why
- Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) is no longer associated with Grey’s Anatomy. In fact, he’s been signed on for a short run with NBC’s Bionic Woman series this fall. What I find most interesting about that is that there are reports that Washington was talking with NBC Exec Ben Silverman long before his off-screen drama occurred. If you go here, you can read Shonda’s interview on the topic. Hmmm… I really do think that Washington is a spectacular actor and I am a firm believer that his off-screen antics truly got in the way of the development they were hoping would take place in Season 3. Oh, well.
But, with losing a friend we gain apparently three more. If you watched the season finale, you’re well aware that George is out (of the program at least), and Lexie Grey (Meredith’s half-sister) is in. Set to be played by Chyler Leigh (who’s been seen around your TV set on various shows like The Practice and Reunion.). As much as I think this might be throwing us in the wrong direction, I’m trusting you, Shonda. No word yet as to who the other two interns are.
- Private Practice is geared up and ready to go for its Fall launch date. Starring Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery, the story follows her character’s tail-between-her-legs departure from Seattle Grace to the bright and sunny shores of Los Angeles. This is not only the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard, but for a while made me incredibly angry, especially since throughout the end of season 2 and the first half of season 3, Addison was my favorite character on the show, by a long shot. I’m really not planning on following this show, gang. I might watch the first few episodes, but don’t expect any news updates. If you’re into the show, and bless you if you are, you can get your fix here.
-Finally, an AP interview with Shonda herself about the fate of Season 4 reveals, once again, that she is well aware of the mess she’s created on the show. She admits that her characters took a “darker journey” last season with the death and infidelity that occurred, but also hopes that people are going to stick with the show as they’re going to “get back to having fun” next season. This actually kind of makes me happy to read that. I think that it’s important to realize that it really was not fun to watch that second half of Grey’s. And as I’ve said before, it’s a shame that it was because of so much off-screen drama. And in my opinion, the fun episodes of Grey’s (Season 3’s camping episode which will go down as my all time favorite Grey’s EVER.) are always, always the best. They know how to write witty and they know how to write drama and they can pair those two like mac n’ cheese. I just hope we remember how to keep things on an even keel over there at SGH. I like that she’s previously admitted to burning it all down, but I hope this means that Season 4 won’t start with everyone having massive amnesia and forgetting everything that has happened.
And so, it’s with that I also introduce you to our newest tag on The Babble, simply titled, Grey’s Anatomy. While I’m working on a better title, you’ll be able to find all the Grey’s News and Reviews right over there.
So let’s press on to sometime in September for the premiere of Season 4. Rhimes herself said, “This season will be the redemption from that mayhem.” Let’s hope she’s right.
Pretty soon, I’m even going to be convinced that my brother is, in fact, myth, because no man could ever be as funny as he is.
I just received my homemade birthday card from my younger and farkin’ HILARIOUS brother, Iain. I’ll include some photos below the jump so you can read it for yourself. I’m seriously on the verge of tears from laughing so hard.
(Note: If you don’t know Iain Nathaniel James Acunis Graham, this might not seem as funny to you, but wow. Definitely made my day.)
This afternoon I decided to head down to massively awesome and beautiful Newport on the Levee for an afternoon lunch and movie date. After a pretty good lunch at Moe’s Southwest Grill, I headed up to the AMC Theater for my 2:40 matinee of Danny Boyle’s new sci-fi thriller, Sunshine.
I’m a big fan of science fiction, especially when it deals with outer space. And, I think that creative apocalyptic story lines, when done correctly, are impossibly cool and engrossing. To be totally honest, I wasn’t expecting Sunshine to be anything to write home about. I saw the preview and it was Cillian Murphy that threw my senses in a frenzy, whereas the concept and story made me nervous. But with all the excellent reviews I had been reading, I figured it might be worth the time and money to check it out. Let me tell you that Sunshine was worth my dollars and hours and ended up being an outstanding, well-paced and beautiful sci-fi thriller that didn’t let up.
The premise of the film is that some years from now, the Sun is dying out. While the earth is in solar winter, a team of astronauts are headed to try and reignite the Sun aboard Icarus 2, an odd space station looking thing attached to the bomb or “paylaod”, which can only be described as a large satellite dish looking thing. The first Icarus mission took place seven years prior and had failed for some unknown reason.
The film opens with a poetic narration by Capa, played by my Blue Eyed Baby Boy, Cillian Murphy, who we learn was the physicist who designed the device that is transporting them 50 plus million miles away to try and save the world. He’s accompanied by Cassie, the Pilot (Rose Byrne, Troy), Searle, the Medical Officer (Cliff Curtis, Live Free or Die Hard), Mace, the Engineer (Chris Evans, Fantastic Four), Harvey, the Communications Officer (Troy Garity, Barbershop), Kaneda, the Captain (Hiroyuki Sanada, The Last Samurai), Trey, the Navigator (Bebedict Wong) and Corazon, the Biologist (Michelle Yeoh, Tomorrow Never Dies, Memoirs of a Geisha).
The ship is absolutely incredible. There’s a room where Corazon is growing plants so they can have renuable oxygen, a room called “The Earth Room” where they can go and have an experience like standing in the middle of a forest or watching crashing waves for therapy when they’re homesick, and let’s face it, the technology is all just pretty darn awesome. In fact, there’s this one room that is pretty much like the front window of the ship. The crew can go and sit in there and use some protective screens to get some beautiful glances at the Sun as they approach it. Searle takes a particular liking to it and he describes being so close to it as taking a bath in the light. In fact, many of the images and sounds of the sun in the movie are really the Sun, courtesy of SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, one of my favorite science websites. And for the record, I think that the sounds the sun makes are some of the most terrifying and humbling sound clips to ever exist. Truly breathtaking.).
At the beginning (of course) the mission is going off beautifully, in fact they’re making better time than they thought and are informed that they’re going to be entering the magnetic field of the Sun and will no longer have communication with Earth, so that they need to send their, possibly final, messages home. Cue the lump in my throat as Capa spills out a goodbye that can only be described as perfect. It really carries through in the rest of the film as so much of the dialogue and Capa’s monologues truly are beautifully written.
As the mission continues, Cassie spots Mercury on the computer screen and they all gather in the observation deck to watch it pass in front of the Sun (more totally stunning actual footage.) Later in the day, Harvey discovers that there was an odd transmission that was sent while Mercury was passing, only to later learn that it is a distress signal from Icarus I that is suspended close to the sun, not too far from their projected course. Though it’s unlikely that any of the crew members are still alive, they decide to go and see if they are going to be able to possibly take their undetonated payload to use as a backup in case their’s fails. As this causes the crew to have to change their course, they encounter problems almost immediately.
It truly becomes an intense, heartbreaking and exciting journey and I was almost always on the edge of my seat. As the crew deals with a drastic cut to their oxygen supply, the mental state that comes from their delicate situation and a mysterious extra crew member, you’re truly hoping that the “particularly beautiful day” that Capa was talking about actually comes true.
I have one complaint, but it’s unfortunately a huge spoiler if I leave it here, so we’ll discuss it after you’ve seen it.
Even that complaint aside, I walked away from Sunshine pretty satisfied. The direction and cinematography was beautiful and I was truly impressed all around with the performances from all the actors. If you’re in the mood for some pretty awesome sci-fi thriller action, check out Sunshine, you won’t be sorry.
Oh! And! The Darjeeling Limited trailer! On the big screen! If you thought those colors were pretty on your computer screen…whew!
(That was SeaBabble’s 200th Post!!!)
Meet Kermit The Nano!
This afternoon when I was heading out to the wonderful Newport on the Levee for lunch and an afternoon movie, there was a loud knock at my door. Louder than necessary, I thought, but I went to answer it anyway. There wasn’t anyone there, so when I ruled out that it was The Joker coming to get me, I looked down and saw a box placed there by my mailman. The return address was from my brother, Iain, so I opened it an inside I found my birthday/graduation present from him! An iPod Nano! That I named Kermit The Nano! It’s totally cool and exciting and a new toy, so I’m happy.
When I went to my mailbox, it was flooded with birthday cards from home. Even Mookie sent me one! And one from The President. It was exciting stuff, guys, let me tell ya.
I think that until I find a new job, every week when I get a new box of Tazo tea from Starbucks, I’ll post it’s totally pretentious and eye-rolling description on the blog.
If you missed last week’s, it’s right here.
This week, we travel to India (How Darjeeling Limited of us!) for Tazo’s “reincarnation” of traditional, Chai Tea, usually native to South Asia and the Middle East. Chai actually just means “tea” in many languages of this region and is probably one of my favorites. It’s kind of a spicy black tea and tastes great with steamed milk and cinnamon powder.
Starbucks, however, describes the tea as this:
“A rich blend of teas and spices in the style of the hill dwellers of the Himalayas.”
“The hill dwellers of the Himalayas” makes me think of that nice man in Batman Begins that Bruce leaves Henri with after he very kindly, politely and quietly leaves the League of Shadows and informs them that he is no murderer. “I tell him you save his liiiiife.”
ANYWAY, our little “mood music, or description, for this fine product is:
“Throughout India, chai wallahs can be found serving up steaming cups of sweetly spiced chai to wandering souls. You’re with them now.”
And this is why I need a new job.
One of my favorite things on TV is Countdown with F.H. Keith Olbermann, and on his show one of the very best features is called “Worst Person in the World” where he runs down to the top three newsmakers who can most easily compete for the title of Worst Person in the World.
Last night was excellent, check it out here.
At first I wasn’t sure how this one slipped under my radar, but then I realized that it happened while I was in Guatemala. And pretty much, this is unacceptable that I haven’t reported on this until now.
This, being Future Husband John Krasinski had a ga-ga-ga-gooorgeous spread in GQ magazine.
This is how I feel when I think about you, too!!
Man in suit! Man in suit! Swoon!
More scans located here.
Hello, My Darling. I promise that when we’re married and living on our big beautiful, tree-y farm, we’ll have a basketball hoop in the driveway, and you can teach our children all the ins and outs of basketball. Maybe once a week we can have a family showdown and you can pick up Little Olivia June and help her slam dunk. And then, we’ll have BBQ and fresh-squeezed lemonade on the porch and watch the fireflies come out while Olivia and her sisters, Kennedy Jayne, Madeline Marie and Wyatt James (and their brother Will Sawyer) try and catch them in jars for night lights. See you then.
The Darjeeling Limited trailer is officially online!!!!!
Right here! Please watch it!
The first Wes Anderson movie I ever saw was The Royal Tenenbaums. Drawn in originally by a cast that to this day cannot be beat, I stuck around for a style of film making and storytelling that became my absolute favorite. Since that day in 2001, Wes Anderson has been the number one filmmaker in my heart and there are so many reasons why. Probably first and foremost is the characters he uses to tell his stories. It’s rare to turn on a Wes Anderson movie and find a tale of triumphant people headed to the top of their game. Whereas so many other movies develop the character into something great, Anderson takes the next step and shows what happens after they peak at their greatness. Max Fischer, from Rushmore, is president or founder or involved in nearly every club on campus, wrote a “little one act” about Watergate at the age of seven, and is an alternate for the wrestling team. But he’s also “one of the worst students” at a school that clearly means more to him than anything, Rushmore Academy. The downward spiral of Max’s journey is painful, to say the least, and while that sounds tragic and sad (and believe me, it can be), it’s truly a gift to be able to tell that story with humor and sweetness like Wes does. Another thing I really love about his movies is that they show the power of the people around you. It’s like a Beatles’ song, or something. When the world sticks it to the main characters and they’re thrust down in to the most painful of painful lows, friends, loved ones, and even the people you might have considered enemies are there to pick you back up to a place where you’re okay. And that’s a very beautiful thing. There’s an overwhelming amount of heart at the pit of all these stories, and it fills my heart to the brim, every time.
Also, the way that Anderson portrays a love story is absolutely gorgeous and touching. Anthony and Inez in Bottle Rocket? When you step back and really look at it, this should be the most awkward love story to have ever come to pass, and really, it is. But when you’re wrapped up in hotel sheets and in awe of how incredibly sweet and wonderful it all is to be in love like that, awkwardness doesn’t even come to mind. (One of my favorite scenes in that movie is when Anthony makes another attempt to call Inez from the party he’s at. “So… uh… word on the street, or should I say, rumor has it… that, well, you love me.” “Yes, I do.” And that’s my heart in a puddle on the floor, right there.)
Another thing that constantly mesmerizes me about his films is his careful attention to detail and set design. I think some of the most beautiful scenes that have ever been captured on film are in Wes Anderson’s movies. Probably my two favorite examples of this come from Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. In the Criteron Collection of Tenenbaums, the insert has a floor plan of 112 Archer Avenue, showing each room and little crevice in great detail. Every single thing is thought of and planned out how it should look, and that attention to detail is infinitely appreciated when you’re in awe of the design of each little thing on the screen. One of my favorite scenes in Zissou is when Steve very casually says (in a way that can only be done by Bill Murray) “Let me tell you about my boat.” and the screen pulls up to reveal this cut away vision of The Belafonte and Steve takes us on a tour of the ship that displays Team Zissou at its very best and most shameful. The brutal honesty that comes through in the set direction truly makes The Belafonte a character of its own. And I love that. When you can bring the inanimate objects around you to life with the life and vibrancy that Anderson does.
See what I mean? When I saw it in the movie, I felt like a little kid overwhelmed with Christmas for the very first time.
The reason I had to talk about all of these things is because it’s easier to say that I can see all of these things poking through in The Darjeeling Limited, and are all the reasons that it’s the movie I am currently most anticipating. I can see the tragedy and sadness of Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody’s brotherhood and characteristics. You can tell that this journey is going to take them through the highs and lows of everything under the Indian sun. And I like that. I like that I know this is going to hurt, but I know that the heart we’re going to find at the root of it all will be well worth it. His use of color and that careful attention to detail here is exactly what I’d expect from a movie like this and it’s going to be wonderful. I know I’m going to have to see it more than once to make sure I am able to take it all in.
Anderson’s films speak to a reality that is going to take you on an adventure of the highest degree. And it might hurt, it will definitely make you laugh, but in the end it’ll promise pick you up and embrace you like you’ve never been embraced before, all set to an amazing soundtrack and the most beautiful and whimsical colors and settings your brain can imagine.
So, that’s that. In a nutshell, it’s why I can’t wait to pay however much it costs to see The Darjeeling Limited.
As Steve Zissou put it best, “This is an adventure.” It always is, Steve. It always is.
I didn’t want to blog about the orgy of celebrity that’s happening in Hollywood right now over Becks’ and Posh’s arrival to the states to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy, but… at least one thing is worth being mentioned after looking through the photos in this article.
In other news, while I am not nearly as excited as Wolf appears to be (though really, am I ever?) I am getting ready to watch the CNN MeTube Debate hosted by F.H. Anderson Cooper.
Anderson, you make my heart flutter.
So, stay tuned for comments on that. Maybe. We’ll see.
Howard Dean is talking to Wolf right now. “1:09:51 UNTIL THE YOUTUBE DEBATEEEE!!! BIYAAAHHHH!!! I. LOVE. ANDERSON COOPER. BIYYYAAAHHHHHH!”
That was excessive. I’ll admit it.
Did you know that Mindy Kaling, the lovely actress who plays Kelly Kapoor on The Office, also writes some of the episodes? Most notably, Ben Franklin, The Injury and The Dundies? If these sterling classic Office episodes weren’t instant proof of her admirable and fantastic wit and clever-ness, she officially has a blog that is one of the funniest things I’ve read. It’s pretty much all about shopping and girly stuff (Or as Kelly would say [in one of my favorite Kelly lines], “pretty much anything that is awesome.”), but the fact that I can picture her/Kelly talking exactly like this is written, is pretty excellent.
Not to mention this weekend I, too, bought a lot of things that I love. I’ll totally indulge you, if you’d care to know.
Also, in other fantastic blogging news, my baby baby brother, Clayton, officially has his own blog over here at Reganomics! Only the wittiest 17-year old I can possibly think of, he’s already written about Becks in the U.S. and a pretty good album review. If ever there were an expert on all things James Bond and Jason Bourne, Clayton is it and I am most looking forward to his side-by-side comparison of the two coming soon. Excellent. Check out what the little dude is up to!
This past Friday saw the release of Sunshine, the sci-fi thriller about the expiration of the sun, directed by Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Trainspotting, Millions). My original motivation to see this film was the fact that it’s starring Future Husband Cillian Murphy. As an astronaut. In space. With science fiction. And thrills. Which is friggin’ cool. The film is getting some pretty decent reviews, so the fire under my butt to get out and see it has been slightly increased.
Well, let’s call that one full blast as reports are flying in that The Darjeeling Limited has a trailer attached to this film. I think I’m going tomorrow. For those that can’t make it out to the movie, you had better believe that I am watching like a hawk for this thing to pop up online.
In other “go see this movie because of the trailer,” news, John’s been reporting on The Dark Knight’s teaser trailer being attached to some copies of The Simpsons Movie that’s being released to some very anxious crowds this Friday. Oh, and there are a bunch of people who want to see the movie, too. 
AWESOME!!
Batman isn’t even this good of a detective. Batman is envious and wants to recruit these detective skills for his team. Because, ladies and gentlemen, John Bierly has rocked it and socked it to The Moon with his discovery of what lies beyond this link.
It’s beautiful!!! And so colorful!!! And there are elephants on the wall!!! And I can’t waaaiiiit!!!!!
I never got into video games aside from NES Duck Hunt. And even then, I would stand and press the gun against the TV screen so I’d never lose. What? It’s called strategy, sucka’!!! Sure, Guitar Hero is fun, but I’m not very good. And I am sure Wii is great, but I haven’t gotten much practice aside from watching other people play a lot. It’s just not my thing. Anyway. That all may be changing as The Office is slated to become a videogame for PSP, Nintendo DS and, of course, PC. Look for it by the end of this year.
From the story over at Gamesarefun.com:
“The point of the game will be to do odd jobs and pull pranks at Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch. There is as of yet no word on whether we will be able to play as Jim and choose between Pam and Karen. But if so, difficult choices lie ahead!”
Or he could pick me. I’m loyal. And I can cook good food. And I happen to LOVE last-minute dates. Especially when they’re on roofs.
My personal opinion? Go for it. I’d much rather be sitting on an airplane next to a kid who is trying to figure out how to glue Dwight’s pens and pencils all over his desk than a kid who is on his 10 millionth sudoku game when I have yet to finish one. To date. Period. End of story.
I must admit that I would much rather play a Sims version of The Office. Those of you who don’t know, The Sims is an RPG in its purest form. So, I’d be able to make out with Jim Halpert. Whenever I want. And that would be, um, always, lasting til… forever.
This morning, very bright and early, Holywood Standard Time, Emmy Gods smiled down on our humble little office in Scranton, Penn and handed down NINE Emmy nominations to our favorite little paper pushers!!!
From this past year’s Emmy Awards after The Office won for Best Comedy Series.
Comedy Series: The Office
Lead Actor In A Comedy Series:Steve Carell
Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series:Rainn Wilson
Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series: Jenna Fischer
Directing For A Comedy Series:Ken Kwapis, for Gay Witch Hunt
Writing For A Comedy Series: Greg Daniels, for Gay Witch Hunt
Writing For A Comedy Series:Michael Schur, for The Negotiation
Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series: Dean Holland, Dave Rogers, for The Job
Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (half-hour) And Animation: John Cook, Peter J, Benjamin Patrick, for The Coup
AWESOME! I am especially happy for Jenna and Rainn. While all characters, supporting and main, on this show are week-after-week consistently stellar, I feel that this past season gave us some of the absolute best Dwight ever. And Pam. Pam, Pam, Pam. I think any of you in doubt need to re-watch Beach Games and The Job. There you’ll find some of the best television ever and two of the many reasons that Jenna Fischer should walk away with this award.
In other Emmy news, Grey’s Anatomy was nominated for Best Drama and four of its actors for their supporting roles. I’m going to go ahead and say that I really hope it doesn’t win for best drama. The second half of the season was lazy, contrived and ten million steps backwards from everything else we would have ever seen when the show was at it’s peak. It’s up against House (which I always enjoy and will be watching more of this fall), Boston Legal, Heroes and The Sopranos. I’m gonna go ahead and call this category to The Sopranos, as well as many other categories where the show is nominated, being that the show has ended and Emmy Awards will tend to go to the retiring veterans.
As far as the Grey’s actors that were nominated:
T.R. Knight is up for supporting actor and there’s a menage-a-trois for supporting actress, as Katherine Heigl, Chandra Wilson and Sandra Oh split up the Grey’s vote.
I’d like to say that I’d pull for Knight, but think he’s definitely the dark horse.
And for Supporting, I’m goin’ with Team Oh. I wouldn’t be surprised if it went to Heigl, but would be very surprised if it went to Wilson. While she was amazing whenever she was actually in the show, her character was very absent this past season and didn’t deliver enough memorable moments. Heigl is of course excellent in portraying her character, Izzie Stevens, but for me, the problem is her character. I think that Izzie has become hands down the least likable character on the show and that makes it hard to hope she wins. Oh is always spot-on and clearly understands her character inside and out, top to bottom. She definitely brought the big guns to the season finale and in spite of shoddy writing, really made that episode complete.
I had a nightmare last night but when I woke up, couldn’t remember what it was about.
I had heard rumblings of this last week, but never saw the price tags attached to melting ice. You’ve GOT to be kidding me.
Not really a huge news update, but a news update, and an excuse to post this photo:
According to the good people over at The Rushmore Academy, we’ve recently learned that Personal Favorite Filmmaker Wes Anderson’s fifth full-length film has a new release date of OCTOBER 5 instead of the previously thought, “sometime in December, 2007.” Darjeeling Limited will open the New York Film Festival the week before, accompanied by a limited release.
The film follows three brothers played by Eli Cash, Max Fischer and The Pianist that battles Kong, on a journey across the Indian subcontinent after the death of their father (rumored to be played by and later reincarnated as a white tiger voiced by none other than Herman Blume.). Etheline Tenenbaum and Natalie Portman also star in the film that’s already getting quite a flurry of fantastic whispers from around the internet. (For a little more info, check out this scan from Entertainment Weekly.)
Speaking of Fantastic…
The Rushmore Academy is also reporting that the release date of Wes Anderson’s sixth full-length film, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, will be November 2009. Based on the Roald Dahl book of the same title, Fox will also be Anderson’s first animated film. Early rumors of some voice actors? The Cloon and Cate Blanchett. As you well know, Blanchett played the extremely lovely and very preggers reporter, Jane Winslett-Richardson, in 2004’s whimsical underwater adventure, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.
What will I be doing with myself until October 5? Well, for one thing, I need to confront my inner desires to see Hairspray after I caught Christopher Walken on The Daily Show last night.
After the World Series of Pop Culture, it’s safe to say that there is nothing on TV except the Senate Slumber Party 2007.
I’m sure none of you are watching this. But I am. And the novelty has long-since worn off. I guess I’m just hoping they do something really wild to the guy that falls asleep first.
Can we vote Joe Lieberman off the island yet?
In a promise to get things back to normal around here, we’re bringing the heat with our used-to-be-somewhat-regular Tuesday Feature, One Track Mind, where I pick one song on iTunes every Tuesday and review it for your potential listening or money saving pleasure.
This morning when I opened iTunes in search of a new release to check out, it was a toss up between a song from The Rocket Summer’s new album (which so far sounds like a super catchy, super fun, summer album that rockets my sockets to Jupiter.) or Vanessa Carlton’s new single. Being that Vanessa Carlton has been non-existent for the past… who knows how long… I decided that I’d give it a spin.
Here’s some background:
We all recognize Carlton’s name, piano melodies, and incredibly full voice from her 2002 release Be Not Nobody, with the single that I never seemed to get out of earshot from, “A Thousand Miles.” Released within a year of Michelle Branch’s butt-kicking album, The Spirit Room, Vanessa Carlton spent most of her hype and 15 minutes on my backburner. However, I always really did enjoy the first track from the album, “Ordinary Day.” An upbeat, catchy and driving number with excellent lyrics to carry it along. Zammo! I could listen to it on repeat for days and still think it’s a great song, top to bottom. But then what happened to Little Miss Carlton?
In 2004, Carlton released her sophomore album, Harmonium, which not only completely slipped under my radar, but that of millions of Americans as the album only sold 179,000 copies, causing her to part ways with her label, A&M. Since then, label-less and pretty much out of at least my conscious thought, looks like she’s been on-again, off-again dating Semi-Charmed Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind, who also co-produced her next record, Heroes and Thieves, slated to be released early October on The Inc. Records (formerly known as Murder, Inc., a primarily hip-hop label, that boasts such artists as, JaRule and Ashanti. That’s not totally bad. After all, in 2005, Fiona Apple teamed up with well-known hip-hop producer Mike Elizondo, to create one of the greatest albums ever recorded by anyone in the history of music. Ever.).
Which brings us up to today, July 17, 2007, when we see the release of the first single from this album, “Nolita Fairytale”.
The song starts out with the promise of something different, an energized drum beat that gets joined by Carlton’s signature punchy chord progressions and her voice that sounds exactly like it did in 2002. Starting low, the track gives promise that it has nowhere to go but up, up, up. But it never quite makes it to any sort of climax or peak. In fact, the song remains completely flat, unexciting, and something you’re likely to find in the closing credits of a Hillary Duff film, instead of your car stereo. This is “sell-out” pop music at its absolute best today. An artist, producers and label that are looking to cash in on the unoriginal, uninspired and uninteresting garbage that gets eaten up by the masses. She’s being produced by people who don’t understand the genre as much as they understand business, and that’s exactly what I see to be completely wrong with the music industry today. Vanessa did not grow up with her audience. Through this single, she has shown us that she’s remained the same and is living in the “Fairytale” that if she writes a boring and formulaic pop song, she’ll make it big once again.
Upon first listen, you can see that it’s just a tragically misproduced and mismarketed song. Without really paying attention, you could hear potential peeking through, if only Carlton got her own taste of Elizondo on her side. But when really listening to the music, this song whines and complains like an angsty and unintelligent hate-letter to A&M for a grueling three minutes and twenty-eight seconds (”So take away my record deal, the one I don’t need.” Right.). To me, she’s proven to be an immature and loose cannon of a song writer, relying on the same old tricks, same old combinations to try and rekindle at least 30 seconds of her long gone 15 minutes. At 27, Vanessa Carlton has officially re-defined “has-been.”
As my friend John so brilliantly put it, “I’m surprised that Third Eye Blind guy still gives her permission to sing.” I couldn’t agree more.
Final verdict: Pass. Pick up a track from The Rocket Summer’s ultra-super-mega fun release, Do You Feel.
One thing that’s kind of cool about Starbucks is that every week I get to mark out either a pound of coffee or a box of tea. Being that I am a pretty active tea drinker, this is a good perk.
However, Starbucks, I just went to brew myself my nightly cup of chamomile tea (named “Calm Herbal Infusion” by the TAZO divison of Starbucks Coffee Company) and as I am waiting for the water to boil I read the back of the tea bag and it says:
“A single cup of Tazo Calm has been known to have the same effect as sitting for 45 minutes in a mountain meadow on a sunny day with your shoes off.”
Bluggh.
Black. Red. Green. Blue. White. Three-quarter sleeve, full sleeve. Argyle, plain. Loads of ‘em.
I even own *two* Cardigans CDs.
Does that mean we can get married now?
It’s been a while since we’ve had some good Office news, so let’s do a quick round up, shall we?
1. The Office Season 3 DVD will be released on September 4, 2007. In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the cover art for the DVD set.
I love that Prison Mike made the cover of the DVD. If you want to pre-order, you can do so here from the good people at Amazon.com. I, however, plan to wait it out to see if there’s any sort of bonus package like they had last year. Fingers crossed.
2. The Office 360. As much as I really wish it was, this is not a dual effort from CNN and NBC to merge AC 360 and The Office into a weekly news magazine. Instead, it’s something that might even be better. In late August, NBC is going to launch an ultra-fancy and ultra-Dunderriffic website that will be set up like a Dunder-Mifflin corporate page, but actually a super intense fan site for us Dunderheads who just can’t get enough from our half (and sometimes one!) hour a week. It sounds pretty cool and lots of opportunities for fan interaction. For example, you’re going to be able to set up “teams” or “branches” and compete with eachother using weekly tasks handed down from corporate where you can earn… wait for it… SchruteBucks. Please tell me we can work at the same branch. (They’re also doing it for other shows, like Heroes, but I don’t know what the specifics of those sites are.)
3. That Office Convention I reported on a few months back? It’s still on. OH MAN, is it still on. More details and more temptation that I really should go, here. I’ve always thought the idea of conventions for things that people find interesting, is a really cool idea. And for the first time, I am into something that’s having a convention! I’m totally geeking out over this and am hoping that someone is going to want to make the trip to Scranton with me.
4. 73 Days, kids. 73 days until the ONE HOUR premiere of Season 4 of The Office on September 27. What happened to Karen?! Is Kelly going to stand for Ryan’s sudden break-up?! How many times did Jim sneak to hold Pam’s hand during their dinner DATE?! I can’t wait. I. Can’t. Wait. Who’s hosting the party, guys!?
As the time for Office goodness on all fronts nears, I’m sure we’ll be slammed with tons more news and tidbits of Dunderriffic goodness. Can’t wait. See you then!
This weekend was my first full weekend in the Tri-State area, and what a weekend it was.
My brother Clayton just called to inform me that I completely forgot to call the greatest dog ever, Mook-a-luke/Mooks/The Bear/T-Rex/Mookie Noxema Jackson Graham, who turned 11 today.
Happy Birthday, Mooks. I’m sure Mom made you something special to eat and probably bought you a cupcake, so enjoy it well, ya ol’ grizzly bear.
Now that we’re not nearly as busy as we’ve been the past few… forever… we can finally start kicking our butts back into gear with this blogging stuff.
So! Check out our first PHRIDAY FOTO in who knows how long!
This is The Hill of the Cross in Antigua, Guatemala. We went there on our last day in Guatemala and it’s a short, yet steep hike to the top, but once you’re up there the view is totally beautiful. That mountain in the background is actually an active volcano that was smoking a bit while we were there!
To see more photos from Guatemala, check out the Flickr page.
And here you have it, folks! The *Official* first photos of the quasi-decorated apartment! [Insert Kermit the Frog style "yaaaaay" here!]
This past weekend I moved into my very own apartment! As Carla would say, “Nobody lives there but me!” and so far, so good.
But let’s take a look at some pictures to better illustrate Silena and Chelsea’s great road trip and moving in experience.
Meet you after the jump!
Well, since moving in on Saturday, family has made it a point to feed me some absolutely delicious dinners. Aside from making Silena and myself scrambled eggs one morning, a bowl of cereal the next and peanut butter and banana after work, I’ve done zero cooking (We ate at Waffle House this morning and Moe’s in Newport yesterday. SUCH good Mexican food!!!). Anyway, I was really looking forward to getting my Sea Foods on tonight.
I didn’t have much to work with, but I stretched what I did have pretty far.
Our players for this match included, chicken breast, spinach, onion, garlic (whole cloves, slices and crushed), pepper, lemon and olive oil. Super simple and ended up being super yummy.
First, we put our chicken in the pan with the olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, garlic slices and onion:
Then, when the chicken was pretty well cooked, we took it out and threw in some spinach and let it get its saute on with the onions and garlic. Also (because I can never have enough garlic), I threw in the crushed garlic and some whole garlic cloves.
And once all those lovely veggies and whatnots were sufficiently sauteed, lemon, peppered and prepared to perfection it got forklifted (Literally! Ha!) on to our chicken.
Super simple and incredibly yum. And that’s what Sea Foods is all about, gang.
This morning I needed gas.
This morning on my way home from Waffle House (Yum) and dropping Silena off at the airport (Boo) gas was selling at $2.98 a gallon.
I needed to get home for the cable guy (because in case you didn’t know, I’ve got phone, TV and internet now) so I said “Eh, gas can wait til after work.”
When I went to work at noon, gas was still $2.98 a gallon.
At 5:15, when I left work, gas was $3.19 a gallon.
What. The Hell.
The last few legs of our road trip saw much less internet connection time than I had anticipated, so I apologize for the complete lack of updates… but what you need to know now is that I’m in my new apartment and will update you with stories and photos soon!!!
So far, so good. A little bit of a “funny” smell, but that’s soon to be fixed by an absurd amount of scented candles and Febreze up the wazoo.
Florence is pretty good so far, I don’t think the reality of it all has sunk in yet, so I’m still waiting for that.
Stay tuned for tonight’s Sea Foods: Cooking For One In The New Apartment Edition!!!!
Come visit!
(Please excuse the short and error-filled nature of this post. I don’t think I’ve ever been more sleepy in all my life)
Well, Silena and I made it safe and sound to Katrine’s in Davis. After cramming the car closed, teary goodbyes and errands galore, we finally got into the 4th of July traffic at around 3 and made it to Katrine’s house by 9:30. We just got home from dinner at The Pita Pit, which was freakin’ delicious, and then off to 31 Flavors for $1 scoop night. Yep, life is good here in Davis.
So yes, safe and sound and not much to report except that the 5 smells like absolute death. Disgusting.
Katrine put together a lovely road trip basket that has snacks and a SCAVENGER HUNT that we must complete, so that game shall begin tomorrow. I also think we’re going to start looking for license plates from each state. Oh, the joys of the road!!!
Next stop: Salt Lake City!!!
Well, I’ve been more than tied up since our last post. Upon returning from Guatemala I, got a car (The Mother Falcon. Photos coming soon. And photos from Guatemala, GOSH! I suck!), discovered that I have way too much crap and have been attempting to to pack said crap into the Falcon for a noonish departure time today. So far, not so good, but I did want to take the chance to make sure that I gave you all a brief update.
Last night a group of friends went to White Harte in Woodland Hills for some goodbye laughs, Guinness and Memory Lane strolls. I had an absolutely wonderful time with everyone, severely hurt this morning from laughing so hard, and I realize that I must be one of the luckiest girls in the world to have such incredible people in my life that I am lucky to call my friends. A group of us decided that we’re not quite ready to say our goodbyes yet, so lunch today on our way out is the plan. And as long as I get one more chance to cry tears of laughter into my food from watching George eat, I am so, so, so happy.
I am not at all looking forward to saying goodbye to my family. Just thinking about it now is giving me aches in my heart. They’re the most important people in the whole entire world to me and it’s going to be so incredibly hard not being able to see them whenever I’d like. I can’t imagine not talking Office or Grey’s Anatomy with Emily, or hurting from laughter thanks to the tag team of comedy that is Iain and Clayton. I’m going to miss Emily and Clayton’s track meets and beaming with pride when they finish a race, or read a story Emily wrote for the Courier on the day she brings home a copy and mom brings home fifteen to mail to relatives. I’ll really miss having to ask Clayton for my guitar back all the time, but knowing that it’s good when he steals it because he is a far better musician than I will ever be, and Lillian deserves to be played by someone like that every once in a while. I’ll miss Iain just popping in my room just to say “hi” but always having some crazy brilliantly crafted story about one of his friends that will put me in stitches. You will never meet better people than my brothers and sister. My parents raised them to be the kind, funny and intelligent people that I am madly in love with every day of the year. I got to be a big sister three times in my life and have tried my absolute best to be the role model and the friend they’re all more than worthy of having, one can only hope I’ve served them well.
Emily and Clayton are going into Senior year of high school, a fact that totally blows my mind, and the experiences they’re going to have and the amazing things they’re going to conquer makes me so incredibly happy and proud to be their sister. In the Fall, Iain starts at Ohio State and will be only an hour North of me, which will be the best present ever. He’s my bad ass of a baby brother and OSU isn’t going to know what hit it. These are the three most important people in the world to me. No way around it. I can’t possibly say it another way.
And I’ll miss talking music or current events with Dad and meeting up almost every night of the week to watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, knowing that we’re both going to start laughing at all the exact same parts. I’ll miss standing around the kitchen with Mom talking about what we’d heard on NPR or saw on Countdown, or going on errands and just talking with my very best friend. I know that they’re only a phonecall away, but there’s something to be said for being blessed with the most amazing family I could ever even dream of having and not being able to see them every single day, or know that no matter what has got me down, that smiles and all around feel-goodery is living right down the hall.
Now that I am officially water working, let’s get down to the facts:
Miss Silena and I are leaving today after lunch with friends for our journey East that will begin by heading North and spending the night in Davis with the wonderful and lovely Katrine and leaving there early tomorrow morning and hopefully making Salt Lake City. I promise you, as much as one can promise, that I will find ways to update you from the road. Possibly with pictures but most definitely with stories.
And on that note, I need to finish packing my clothes and getting off to breakfast at IHOP with Gabby.
To quote one of my personal heroes, Steve Zissou, “This is an adventure.”
To be continued.
(Have you ever heard the song “Living Without You” by Harry Nilsson? Goodness gracious, it’s beautiful. Please get it. Or let me send it to you.)
