Movie Clip Monday or I heart Conan

I'm not a huge celebrity freak. I don't know who is dating who or read Us Weekly (Unless I'm getting my hair done. What is it about salons and celebrity magazines?), but I really love Conan O'Brien. I think he's hilarious. And he's a ginger. I'm a sucker.

So while this is 40-odd minutes long, it's pretty funny. Just push play and have it on in the background. Guaranteed Conan kicking it at Google will make you laugh. Laughing is awesome.

I may dress up for the Oscar party after all

I've never been into the Oscars. Award shows are silly fodder. Bread and circuses, right? But today I saw a nominee for best animated short, and I think I may actually care who wins in this category.

I know it's 16 minutes long, but it will be worth every minute. Watch it twice. The first time I saw it was like the first time I read Tom Robbins: You mean, other people think like that too?




Even if it doesn't win, I would have probably never heard of this short if it weren't for the Oscars. So I guess maybe award shows aren't all bad.

Gangsta For Life (G4L)!

I've been listening to a lot of hip hop and Top 40 bullshit lately. Some people have reality TV, others trashy romance novels -- my guilty pleasure is terribly bad music. Or at least it is terribly bad to the music fascists out there. It makes me happy. So really, what's wrong with that?

My roommate and I were listening to the radio in the car last night and Rihanna's new song Hard was playing. I commented that she was on Def Jam now and had to get some street cred. Read: Pop/Rap song with Young Jeezy. Oh dear lord. Can you believe how ridiculous it is that I know this? (BTW: Check out the song. I really like it.)

hard - rihanna ft young jeezy

I started thinking about how silly real life would be if we all acted like hip hop artists:

I stayed up partying past midnight last weekend. We were drinking Sierra Nevada and sauteing shrimp for dinner. Watching Curb Your Enthusiasm we rented from NetFlix: Larry David is a genius. I'm not scared to laugh.

I caught the 71 from Aptos to Watsonville. It runs once an hour. Some of the drivers know me. I look so fly walking to the bus stop that cars driving by honk and people wave. I wave back. Yeah, I know I rule.

During the week I kick it at Smith Micro Software. I'm always writing the coolest shit so people will want to buy our software. Other software companies are wishing they had our products. Their marketers would kill for my skills.

After work I'm hitting up Target for some Clear Care contact solution and Crest Whitening Toothpaste. You don't wanna question my hygiene. I'll shower once, maybe twice, a day. But I'm not washing my hair that often. Don't get it twisted.

I don't always ride the bus. Sometimes I walk. I can walk for miles. I walk 3 miles every day. Up hills and shit. That's how tough I am. Once in a while I ride in my roommate's Ford Focus. Or my boyfriend's Toyota Tundra. I don't know if it has sweet rims or anything, but I would bet it does. He doesn't play.

And that was just this past week! I gotta say, I feel pretty hard. And awesome. Don't hate. Give it a try. You just might find out you're extraordinary.

P.S. Rihanna's new look is really hot. And I am going to shamelessly promote her and her new album, which kicks ass and is being released November 23.

Most problems can be solved with movie quotes

One of my favorite movies is When Harry Met Sally. While I believe most of the lines are quotable (and I do), one conversation from the movie in particular I like is this:

Harry Burns: You take someone to the airport, it's clearly the beginning of the relationship. That's why I have never taken anyone to the airport at the beginning of a relationship.

Sally Albright: Why?

Harry Burns: Because eventually things move on and you don't take someone to the airport and I never wanted anyone to say to me, 'How come you never take me to the airport anymore?'

Sally Albright: Its amazing. You look like a normal person but actually you are the angel of death.

My friends and I were talking about how people have their relationship status listed on Facebook. We were against it for the most part. Our arguments with it mostly had to do with privacy and the like. And of course, really, if someone would like to know, they could just ask.

While that is one of the reasons I stopped listing my relationship status, the main reason is like Harry's above. I never want anyone to say to me "How come you're not listed as in a relationship with me on Facebook?"

If that makes me the angel of death, then so be it.

I'd like to return the box you've put me in

Normally celebrity gossip makes me a little ill. But I was forced to watch this whole Joaquin Phoenix interview on Letterman at work today. And by forced, I mean literally my supervisor said, "B, come watch this."

There were a few different reactions to Joaquin Phoenix's behavior in our office (there were several people who found this newsworthy--I work in a newsroom). Most of them had something to do with a guess as to what drugs he was on or what mood disorder had suddenly surfaced in him. All I could discern was that he didn't want to talk a lot at that particular time, which was too bad for him considering he was being interviewed on national television.

(On a somewhat related note: The man's name is phoenix. Death and rebirth are part of the bird's very essence!)

When someone makes a change in their life, many people have something to say about it. What's unfortunate is that many times the things that people say are critical and are based in assumption. These judgments are unfair and most times unsolicited.

Change is hard enough without someone saying how you (in their opinion) have fucked up or are going to fuck up. A few of us are blessed to have great support systems to help us maneuver through our journey. But I would say that the majority of us deal with the former more than the latter. It's too bad.

I guess maybe too many people have decided their lives are perfect or too far gone for improvement and so they turn to someone else. Reserving judgment isn't an easy task and no one is perfect, but I think in this case we've all heard what I'm trying to say: If we can't say anything good, don't say anything at all.

God bless the BBC, PBS and the The Daily Show

August 10, 2008 - Sunday

This weekend I watched some of the best athletes in the world smack around a volleyball on the beach and make swimming thousands of meters look like fun. I love the Olympics. I'm not the competitive sort, but I really get into the idea that the entire world can look to something at the same time (that isn't a tragedy) and come together.

This summer Olympics are the first I have watched in years. In fact, I think the last time I even remember anything about the Olympics is Kerri Strug and holy sh*t! Was that really 1996? Youch. I guess school and working constantly will do that to you.

I noticed something that maybe I should've noticed awhile ago. At first I thought that because I am in the media world maybe I am more sensitive to it. But after asking my friend from Norway, maybe not. Is it just me or does the American media have the most arrogant air about them?

(I want to put a disclaimer here. I love my country. I am proud to be an American. I know that might sound cheesy, but I truly am. That being said, there are a lot of things I am embarrassed about and media, namely television, is one of them. That and McDonalds.)

I want to see *all* the athletes competing! I want to see every one of them. How many times can you show me the American competing? Aren't there a few other countries out there somewhere? Has it always been this way? (The idealist in me says no, but the realist dwelling in my basement shakes his head "Yes you idiot!") I guess that's just reason number 4,217 to kill your television.