Army of Women

The Kate sent me this site of a project called Army of Women. The goal is to advance breast cancer research through reaching out to women across the country who are willing to share their time for research. They are soliciting women of all ages, races, with or without cancer history in their families or personally. Signing up will add you to a database, and when there are research needs in your local area, you receive an email soliciting volunteers (anything from filling out a questionnaire to coming in for a cheek swab to donating blood for tests). A great idea for a great cause.

The Truth About the Economy (Thanks, SNL)

This SNL clip of a mock press conference led by Bush, Pelosi, and Frank evidently only aired once before it was yanked. Hits a little too close to home I suppose...watching it, I found it less funny than I did spot-on and frightening. Which of course, according to some, is the perfect excuse for censorship.

Thanks to Geeps for the link.

Obama's Inbox

Three reasons I love this story:

a) It was written by a high school friend of mine (Charles Bethea) who is a GREAT writer--this is his first time published in the New Yorker, but certainly not the last!

b) It's written about a college acquaintance (Guru Raj) I've known since my first year (and first day even, as he was an RA in my dorm). He's also a fellow Atlantan. The high school friend writer and college friend subject know each other from mutual friends, and it's just a coincidence I know them both.

c) The story is awesome. While watching the DNC back in 2004, Guru Raj was also creating his first gmail account. Combinations of his names were taken, so, inspired by Senator Obama's now legendary speech, he registered barackobama@gmail.com. The rest is history.

Let's Settle This on the Dance Floor

Negative ads? Constant bickering? A war of the cable news networks? This campaign is getting pretty ugly. How bout like in the olden days...we settle this on the dance floor. Hey, it worked for Zoolander and Hansel (er, actually theirs was a walk-off on a runway...but you get the picture).

McCain versus Obama--who has the best moves? Watch out for the surprise guest, too---she's got some game of her own.

Opie for Obama

Another gem from the great Funny or Die site. Ron Howard goes back in time to his tv stardom days to talk to some old friends (Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler) about voting for Barack Obama. He's got such a great, self-effacing sense of humor.

Everybody's Favorite Sociopath

I am right in the middle of watching season two of "Dexter," which I think is one of the greatest shows of this decade. My favorite show of all time is "Six Feet Under," which starred Michael C. Hall as conservative, gay, pale-faced, neatly-dressed, squirmy, and overly sensitive David Fisher. As Dexter, Hall could not possibly be more different: he's tan, unshaven, unemotional, and oh, a sociopath. Dexter's foster father realized this about his son early on and trained him with a code to let out his violent urges only on people who are killers themselves, thereby rendering a twisted service to society. He's a forensic blood spatter analyst for the police department, another way he fulfills his urges. The show is intense, dark, funny, ridiculous, suspenseful...it's brilliant. It was just renewed for another two seasons, which makes me a very happy camper. Now if only I had Showtime and didn't have to wait for it to come out on DVD!

Palin as President: Click and Play

A look inside the Oval Office with Palin as president. Click on different objects to hear her speak about them. My favorite is the list of baby names toward the top middle (Carport, Cashew, Rake, and Purple). Also note the picture of the original Maverick on the wall (Tom Cruise from Top Gun) and the "Roe V. Wade" document going in the shredder. Also, if you watch long enough, you'll see a dinosaur walk by. LOVE IT. Thanks to Katherine for the link.

"Reading Faulkner at 17, You Foresee Your Reckoning"

I love this poem by Catherine Pierce, posted to Slate. My hippie high school let me do an independent study in Southern Literature, so I actually WAS a 17-year-old reading Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury on my own. It was a whole different experience when I read it again in a college class on Faulkner, but neither experience was better or worse...just delightfully distinct.

The harvest moon hangs heavy,
a gourd. Your desires heave inside you
like a blood wave. Ignore the cat

pulling on your trousers. Ignore
the cicadas bossing you from the elms.
See yourself in this hot gold light.

You are the brother in love with Caddy.
You are the idiot son. Your mouth dumb.
Your mind lucent. Everything you want

sharp as the cat's bite at your ankle. You pull
your foot back. A yowl, pointed as teeth.
The moon is what will fall on you.

Golden Retriever Puppies: Meet Weezy

Sadly sadly, this is not my wonderful golden retriever puppy. She belongs to my brother Will, who is much too far away at college in Valdosta. We were both home at my parents' this weekend, though, so I got some puppy time. Weezy is seven months old, which means she's more like a teenager dog I suppose. We grew up with a golden retriever, Daisy, who was a GREAT dog, and now meeting Weezy is REALLY making me want one. I think that breed would make a great playmate for our Weimaraner--everybody wins when she's getting out her nervous energy playing outside with other dogs instead of following us around every step we take.

Another picture of Weezy (five months old)...

Angela and Andy's Wedding

In honor of it being Thursday with only an hour before a new episode of "The Office," here's a funny link to Angela and Andy's wedding site. More gets added as the new episodes unfold, and I'm waiting for the moment it all comes crashing down when Angela inevitably (hooray!) goes back to Dwight. It's all written by Andy, of course. A taste...

The Misses and me have a good idea of when, we just need to have a little confab and hammer out the specifics. We're definitely thinking spring: the season of rebirth, love is in the air, it's the best time for flowers, and my groomsmen will look incredible in pastels. There is however, some concern that the flowers and love in the air may upset my little Ange-dillo's allergies. So we're actually thinking summer: sun, shine, outdoors, dancing, drinks, seafood anyone? Seconds please. Although, the temperature is a bit of concern for m'lady as she is prone to heat rash. Fall may actually be the way we go: the leaves changing colors, we both like apple cider (not too hot), but Angela doesn't seem too keen on getting married during a month that ends in "R." So perhaps winter is the way to go: ring in the New Year on Valentine's Day with a little winter wonderland for my ice princess. We'd just have to be careful, my little snow cat's petite body is easily chilled. So I guess things are still a little up in the air, but rest assured, whenever we do have the wedding, it's going to be the most kick-ass, over-the-top, awesome, rockingest, classy affair anyone has ever seen.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Why I hearted this movie (or, why this is the exception to my general dislike of romantic comedies):

1) JASON SEGEL. Star of two great shows, Freaks & Geeks and How I Met Your Mother, Jason Segel single-handedly (single-personed-ley?) makes this movie. He's a goofy yet brooding, sensitive, and big-hearted boyfriend dumped by his movie star girlfriend. In the always necessary convenient coincidence of the romantic comedy, he takes a vacation alone to Hawaii only to find his ex and her new boyfriend staying at the same resort. You as a viewer root so intensely for him to be happy because he's just so freaking likable and vulnerable. He's the Jim Halpert of movies.

2) MILA KUNIS: I'm not a huge fan of That 70s Show but when I do watch it, Jackie is one of my least favorite characters. Surprisingly, though, I really liked her in this movie. She's a confident, funny, and non-needy woman in contrast to Sarah Marshall, the narcissist and co-dependent. I loved when she tells Jason Segel to "stop being so sensitive."

3) DRACULA ROCK OPERA WITH PUPPETS: Jason Segel's character is a musician who writes tv scores, but he has a dream of writing a Dracula rock opera acted by puppets. It's a funny recurring joke throughout the movie, and in the end you finally get to see his masterpiece. I'd pay money to see that!

Unfortunately, the talented and beautiful Kristen Bell as Sarah Marshall is pretty bland in this movie. I think she is AAAAAAMAZING as Veronica Mars (and, gotta admit, as the voice of Gossip Girl) but this script does not leave her much room to become anything more than a one-dimensional character in skimpy clothes. Thankfully, there are some good cameos to distract you...Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, and at the very very end, Jason Bateman for about five glorious seconds.

College Football Teams as Simpsons Characters

A college football post inspired by Georgia's victory over Tennessee...you got PWNED, Rocky Top!

Brilliant list of college football teams each aligned with a Simpsons character. It's from a couple years ago (2006 I think) but still funny and relevant. It's surprisingly accurate when you read the descriptions. Some of my favorites include (obviously) Georgia as Homer Simpson, South Carolina as Ms. Krabappel, Kentucky as Ralph Wigum, Penn State as Grandpa Simpson, and BYU as Ned Flanders.

Project Runway Circa 10,00 BC

Thanks to Kate, who works at National Geographic, for sending this funny Project Runway-esque spoof. NG created the first life-size, scientifically accurate model of a Neanderthal women. Problem is: she's nekkid (see above...eek!), and staffers worried she might get a little bashful at times, or just plain cold. The magazine asked some past Project Runway contestants as well as some of their own staffers to design outfits for the model, affectionately called Wilma, made out of only materials available to her in her own time. I personally like the wrap dress, Joe's design.

Gang Leader for a Day

Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'll admit, I love the History Channel series "Gangland," and that interest is what drew me to this book. While the tv series can tend toward the melodramatic and at times glamorizes the gang life, this book shows the grim underside to the money, cars, and status: the harsh realities of life in Chicago public housing. Venkatesh's entry into this world is remarkable--he simply showed up one day bearing surveys and was eventually invited back by one of the local gang leaders. Over the course of nearly a decade, he forms a relationship with the people of the Robert Taylor Homes (gang members and non-members) and gains information on gangs and urban poverty from the inside, a rare feat in sociology. Over the years, he is forced to confront his own assumptions about poverty, gang life, the drug trade, the role of law enforcement, and so on. He also has to wrestle with serious moral issues as he moves from observer to participant in the life of the community. This is a great read that will likely make you reconsider how you think about impoverished communities.


View all my reviews.

Hypercolor Shirts Are Back..Am I Really That Old?

I discovered yesterday that American Apparel has brought back the Hypercolor shirts that so many of us wore as kids when no one told us how lame they were. That's one fashion statement I NEVER expected to see again, but here it is. I guess if jelly shoes and tapered jeans can come in and out of style several times despite how stupid they are, then why not Hypercolor?

I cringe at the thought of this trend coming to UGA--I can just see girls pairing the shirts with leggings (which, by the way, are NOT substitutes for pants) and gladiator sandals as they strut proudly around campus. May as well throw in those plastic doo-hickies that you threaded one end of your t-shirt through. Do those things have a name? Why did we ever think those were cool? I think I had one shaped like a tropical parrot.

Surpassing Partisanship through Cute Babies

If there's one thing we can all agree on, Democrats/ Republicans/ Independents/ Greens/ Libertarians/ Undecideds/ Apathetics, it's that cute babies and children (and the occasional dinosaur) can unite us. Awwwwwwwwwwwwww babies! Who can focus on partisanship, negative campaign ads, and endless bickering when there's a picture of a baby with "Baby 4 Obama" written across her head? Uniting the voters of the nation through the ultimate cheesefactor: politicians holding babies in funny poses and adorable facial expressions.

Thanks to La Kate for the link.

Colbert Teen Talk: Voter Abstinence

The only surefire way to a safe, clean, and secure election is, of course, to encourage young voter abstinence. Learn more about this pivotal campaign in this promotional video, approved by John McCain.

Remember: when you vote for a candidate, you're voting for every stance they've ever had.

Also, Obama wants to change the language of the Pledge of Allegiance to state "One nation under gay baby."

Love, Stephen Colbert.

Political Puppetry

Several months back, there were a series of Harry Potter puppet videos (here's one example) on YouTube that blew up and got something like 10 to 50 million hits apiece. The puppeteers, or some fans of theirs, adapted one of the most popular Potter Pals videos to star the presidential and vice presidential candidates with a hilarious result, of course. I love Bush's outfit in particular...he looks like Wild West HeMan trying to reclaim his glory days.

Al Groh on Facebook

Great phony Al Groh Facebook ("Coachbook") page, complete with posts from Pete Carroll, Steve Carrell, Lane Kiffin, Kim Jong Il, etc. The mini feed items are awesome, including my favorite: Al added the "I Can Has Viktery?" LOLCats Piece of Flair.

Oh Al Groh. Glad I have another team to cheer for, even though there was more crying than cheering last weekend in their case.

Your Brain on Multi-Tasking

I heard this story on NPR this morning as I drove to work and thought it was pretty cool. The gist is that while we collectively think we're great at multi-tasking and treat it as an inevitable part of modern (post-modern?) life, our brain synapses say otherwise. We aren't actually focusing on many things at once but rather switching from task to task to task in a rapid manner. The lab experiments described demonstrate that the brain effectively goes on pause before a shift from task to task.

This is why I refuse to buy a Crackberry, iPhone, or any device that promises to streamline my life but actually complicates it by rendering me unable to focus on any one task for more than a few seconds!