Archives for the month of: July, 2008

• How to fix … The (or My) Modern American Office #1 ★

July 29, 2008 //

It's simple. Headphones. Hell, Vince Vaugn knew the deal in Old School.

I thought it would take too long for me to get back blogging after last night’s Weeds, but I have to write about this or I’m going to go fucking insane.

You know that stupid fucking song by Gwen “Even If She’s Not A Hollaback Girl She Still Should Be Smacked” Stefani? Okay, too broad a question. Do you know that stupid fucking song of hers where there’s yodeling? I hope there’s only one of these fucking songs because aside from that omnipresent douchetard Akon being on the track, I don’t know how else to describe this sonic turd blossom.

Well, I mention that shit stain of a song because at least thrice a day one of my nearby coworkers has it coming from their speakers. This post isn’t about how much I hate Gwen Stefani, that’s just a conveniently nearby topic to the fact that I’m sick of people not using headphones (or headphones that leak music, I’m looking at you Apple Earbuds) when they’re at their desk. Or any other close quarters situations for that matter, like how I don’t really need to be hearing the reggaeton you’re blasting at 2am on your way home on the L coming out of your buds.

Headphones like the pair silhouetted above do a pretty good job of keeping music in, if it’s at the same kind of volume coming out of the computer speakers of your less than aware coworkers. I use a pair from Panasonic that I make sure to have at work for this reason alone. While I take pride in the music I listen to, I’m sure half, if not all, of the people around me, don’t want to hear it.

So that’s the answer to the How, be respectful and buy a decent pair of headphones. This is the office, not a street corner, and you’re just one of the sheep, not Bill Nun in Do The Right Thing.

Categories random thoughts

• I’m going to need some time to recover from last night’s Weeds.

July 29, 2008 //

So if you saw it, you know what I’m talking about.

It’s only been 12 hours, and I know some who havn’t seen it yet,

so I’m not going to blog about it yet.

But seriously, Jenji Kohan, WTF?

Categories tv

• From The Nerd Behind “Helvetica”

July 28, 2008 //

Logo of the year. Early 2009.

Categories random thoughts

• This kind of bullshit OpEd is why I don’t read Gawker

July 28, 2008 //

OH REALLY with Seth and Amy is on vacation, so I’m subbing.

Really, that’s how you save journalism?

By covering Premium Grade Bullshit?

http://gawker.com/5029264/save-your-newspaper-cover-the-edwards-scandal

Howsabout we save journalism by burning Gawker to the fucking ground?

Categories journalism

• “W.” (Oliver Stone’s Bush Bio Pic) Leaked Teaser Trailer

July 27, 2008 //

Embedding isn’t allowed for this, so link only:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJh7Md5KuWc&fmt=18

This should be one hell of a movie.

Props to Gruber for getting my attention to this.

Categories comedy, movies

• How To Fix The Movie Theater Experience #1 of Many ★

July 27, 2008 //

Keep Him Out Of Your Movie House

First off: ★ = Original Essay, a la Gruber.

So I went to the movie theater today to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army, with the intent of ripping apart Stephen King’s new piece in Entertainment Weekly wherein he told people that they should feel lucky enough to be GOUGED for concession candy and they should be like him and buy a large popcorn ($7 @ Union Square 14th Street theater), and over-saturate it with the fake butter glop.

What I left with was enough ammo to shell King, as well as a few other ideas about what is going wrong in movie houses these days and having bought this damn domain name, I’ve decided to start a series of articles from the consummate movie goer’s P.O.V.. But this being the first, let’s go back to King.

This moment cemented King as Entertainment Weekly’s John McCain, or to be more specific EW’s Phil Gramm. He is so disconnected with the current state of society, wonder how this is enhanced by how much time he spends in his rich bitch seats at Fenway on the fucking base-line. He mentioned how his matinee seats are only 5 bucks, but I wonder how many people have matinee price theaters near them.

I’m sure that these matinee price theaters aren’t of the major brand theaters (Regal, Loews, AMC, whathaveyou), and he’s not using this article for any noble purpose like telling fans to support mom and pop theaters. This goes to the current debate between Stuart Scott of ESPN and the Deadspinners, wherein with access and the MSM connections come a lack of responsible journalism (see new issue of GQ). Not that EW is where people go for journalism, but this is a font that King has to pontificate, and he should be using it better.

Going back to King’s love of $4.50 gummi bears, the average bottom line attentive consumer knows they can get two different candy items from a nearby newstand for under two bucks. The even more on point movie watchers know to stop by their local drug store and get the same size candies from the concession stand for half the price.

I wonder how many people King is taking to the theater with him, or if he starves himself prior to screenings, because even a small popcorn these days is more than one person needs. If I’d asked for a large, as the guy in front of me did, I would have been handed a giant bucket o’ popped kernels.

This is not just another moment wherein I lose respect for King, but another reason to stop picking up EW. Also: their coverage of Katy Perry in their new issue loses points from their tally while Dr. Horrible coverage replenishes the loss. Next Friday, I’ll have more reasons to read or not to read their publication, and probably another movie to go see and explore the dynamics of the big screen houses. So we’ll have another report from the movie houses next weekend.

And finally, what’s my verdict on how to fix the movie theater? Obviously: Don’t Listen To Stephen King.

Categories 2008 Elections, consumerism, movies

• Sweet Lord, The New Murs and 9th Wonder, Sweet Lord, is Free.

July 24, 2008 //

Murs himself went onto them YouTubes to say something like, so him and 9th are giving us Sweet Lord for free as long as we support his next record Murs For President and future Murs and 9th collabos to be sold for money.

And he even admits that people will steal that record too, in the video on their site, http://www.mursand9thwonder.com/, but hey, I’m gonna be buying that record and you should too. Not that I’m going to be making a pay pal donation like the website suggests. That’s kind of foolish, if you remember when Homer went to a museum with Lisa, you know how few people are going to do a pay pal support. Maybe I will after finishing and liking the record. I don’t know. Will I brag about doing so on here if I do? Probably.

With A Passion, often, means Without Shame.

Categories free, rap

• Domain Name’d Up

July 24, 2008 //

If not for Meth, we might not be at this domain today.

So the process has been as such: pad of post it notes, a pen + me scribbling away furiously.

Then, yesterday, I’m walking home and decide that I should try again. That Method Man might have the answers. “P.L.O. Style,” playing, I hear a phrase that makes my inner rap geek chortle with joy.

Commercial rap, hate it with a passion.

Meth is great. But then he tried to ruin it all with the following, the first three of which being Going As Commercial as it Got:

1. Ntogether Now, the song he did with Limp Bizkit.

2. Red & Meth, the short lived Fox comedy.

3. How High, the film he made about smoking a fallen friend’s ashes.

4. Being kind of an asshole in concerts, saying that the crowd isn’t amped enough.

Yet, for all of this, dude is still with a passion. What, of his recent activity, saves him in my book is dude was Melvin “Cheese” Wagstaff on The Wire, for fuck’s sake. I repeat: With. A. Passion.

Even when he fell into the crowd at Webster Hall, and I braced his fall, saving him from murking hisself, he’s been with a passion.

Which, as one coworker put it this morning, most of what I do is with as well. Not the same, or close. Maybe, I wouldn’t say that myself. Either way, this is the 2.0 Start. Heads and Hands up, people.

Categories meta, rap

• Dear Matt Taibbi, What Have You Made Me Do?

July 23, 2008 //

I went my whole life without owning a magazine with The Jonas Brothers on the cover.

This wasn’t a big deal until the last calendar year, when these kids – who by the way I have no clue who they are, what I know is that they make stacks and stacks of money, one of them has some fake Waiting For Marriage bullshit going on with Hannah Montana and one of my cousins has paid to see them in concert – became the next coming of Hanson. Which wouldn’t be the worst thing ever except that they’re of the Disney Channel DNA which requires you to be bad at both singing and acting.

The thing about them making bank, you know how they sell records? They market themselves to kids too young and too stupid and too shit scared to try and steal music. Kids whose parents will buy their love with really fucking expensive movie tickets. This is why I think the children are not the future. These kids are tone deaf and retarded and will not pass the Survival of the Fittest test.

But back to the title of this piece. This is the second post I’ve had with these snots in it, and now, I have a plan to retain my dignity. I buy Rolling Stone for the politics articles by Matt Taibbi, and I’m just going to have to, well look above, and think that one used to cover the other, tear the damn cover off the magazine and leave it in the trash to be disposed. I could just, you know, not buy the magazine, but RS doesn’t put Taibbi’s brilliance online.

Oh, wait. They do, now.

Crap. They didn’t post his article when I’d checked this morning.

At least I got the Pineapple Express feature.

Categories magazines