Toooonz

I usually just listen to Top 40 radio. I'm no iTunes junkie. But the recent House, MD ads piqued my curiosity. So I went a-Googlin' and ID'd Ludo's "Love Me Dead" and got myself a copy. It's got a "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" feel...and it sticks in the head like nobody's business. But I'm still not sick of it yet.

One review (which I found because I was curious if I wasn't the only one who picked up a "Grinch" vibe) wonders if Ludo's quirky/novelty angle will doom the band to being a flash in the pan -- facing a fate similar to Bowling For Soup -- on which I cannot comment.

All I know is that, for now, I'm lovin' this song.

Blogger Templates Kinda Suck....

So few choices, and a template code layout that confuses and frustrates the control freak in me. I would go and download a template somewhere, but when I tried that on a throwaway test blog, I couldn't get my fonts back the way I wanted. Blarg.

I feel like my only option is to look up a template creating tutorial, but I'm not sure I have that kind of time.

What to do, what to do...?

Catching up with Technology: YouTube

So, I live in a little town. Not in the middle of a corn field or anything (not that there's anything wrong with that!), but I have substantial-sized cities within a decent distance. This does not keep people from those cities from saying, upon finding out where I live, "All the way out there?!" It's like some alternate dimension -- right over there, but yet WAY OUT THERE. Anyway, because of this, technology is a bit slow in coming here. We get cable TV, but no cable internet. We get phone service, but no DSL -- aha! until now! Yes, after what feels like a billion years on dial-up (I've been around the 'net for a while; I often reminisce about "the good ol' days" of BBSes and Prodigy), in May I hooked up DSL from (gag) AT&T. It's served me well. I've, um, sampled a lot of music. And I've finally caught up with YouTube.

Prior to May, YouTube was something I tolerated. Download times took forever. Some wouldn't finish loading at all. It was hell. But now I've had the chance of seeing a little of what's out there.


LONELYGIRL15
I watched several of these videos with interest. I had already seen the news stories when it came out that these videos were a ruse created by some budding filmmakers and starring professional actors. "Clever," I thought at the time. So I was keen to see what the actual videos were like, and how they had captivated so much of the world for a few months, at least.



Um, okay. The lead, Bree, has a certain charm about her, and the editing is rather slick. I can see how this would impress today's youth. But then it got...weird, with cults and kidnappings and God-knows-what. Too bad. I think running with the "normal girl" angle would have been a far more interesting social experiment. But perhaps they figured they could go anywhere they want with it -- and had to, to keep the audience -- once the cat was let out of the bag. Maybe it works for most people. Me, I lost interest after the first, say, 15 vids.

EVOLUTION OF DANCE


It is rather amusing. It's amazing how many stupid dance crazes there've been over the past half a century.

"I'm F******* Matt Damon"
Heard about Silverman's recent break-up with Jimmy Kimmel, where the inevitable jokes were made, which reminded me that I'd never seen this pop-culture gem.



On top of this being clever and catchy, Silverman and Damon put so much conviction into the thing that you can't help but love it.

???
Now I'm just wondering if there're any other "iconic" videos (other than "leave Britney alone!" I've seen that one -- yawn) I should see. I've got the bandwidth to spare!

The Princess Bride

What a great film! I can't believe it's taken me so long to see it, but I found it worth the wait. It certainly reminded me what a tasty dish Cary Elwes is/was. See, I fell for him in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (I'm a sick little Mel Brooks junkie), little knowing that this "wry hero" schtick was basically ripping his Westley character. Duh! Now I'm gonna have to go back and watch that movie again.

Anyway, I was retroactively pleased with how Scrubs handled their homage in "My Princess." Little hints here and there, just like in the Wizard of Oz-themed "My Way Home," without being disgustingly overt about it. Scrubs always does so well with its concept episodes. I'm really hoping Bill Lawrence means it this time when he says the new season (on ABC) will be a return to the series' roots. As a major fan of the early seasons, the direction the show has taken over the past several years has caused me great anguish.

Or, you know, something less melodramatic.

PBS Loves Me!

I don't spend a lot of time at the multiplex. Movies that make me shout "Gotta see it!" are few and far between (though WALL-E and The Dark Knight are on my list for the summer). So NetFlix subscriptions don't make sense. And I grew up without cable, which I still don't have.

So this leaves me with whatever movies might come on network television. Yes, this is cheap. And yes, this is sometimes painful -- the censorship edits can set your teeth on edge. And yes, you often get some pretty awful selections. But there's still an element of...nostalgia about it, because that's how I saw most movies when I was a kid, back when there was a regular Sunday Night Movie or Wonderful World of Disney. Ahh, those were the days.

But at least we still have PBS. I don't know how it is around the country, but my local PBS station (KQED) shows two classic movies during Saturday night primetime. I haven't been wowed by their selections in the past, so you can imagine my delight when I noticed their advert for tonight's movie block: Big starring Tom Hanks, followed by The Princess Bride! Wowee zowee! I haven't seen Big in AGES! I recall it as a very enjoyable movie and am looking forward to seeing it again. Meanwhile, I've NEVER had the opportunity to see The Princess Bride. I know it's a classic. And I've had a passing interest in it over the years. But my interest took a spike since the last NBC episode of Scrubs, entitled "My Princess," was inspired by the film. Suddenly it became a "must-see." And so what does PBS do? It schedules it for me!

Thanks PBS! You rock!

Now, just take off those scary Teletubbies and we'll be BFFs, 'kay?

So This is Blogging...

I'm no newbie to the Internet. Nuh-uh. I've been around the cyber block a few times (not in a dirty way), and even been pretty successful at site design, coding, and mastering, where there was, you know, an actual focus. Blogs are a rather new thing. And I admit I've been a long-time blog snob.

All the blogging proponents say, "Here's your chance to have your own voice! To share your point of view of the world with the world!" Well, that's all fine and dandy, but I don't know who I am or what my voice is.

So the chances of a naturally introverted blog snob with an identity crisis actually starting a blog are about as good as pigs sprouting little wings and flying, right?

Well, watch out for airborn pork, 'cause here I am.