A Kenneth and Liz Party

As I am physically incapable of being anything but extremely punctual, I was the first to arrive at this evening's Super Bowl party.  My gracious host and fellow 30 Rock fan met me at my car and let me know that it might be a "Kenneth and Liz party," which I found particularly funny since I get to be Liz every way you slice it.  And from now on, I will be calling my host Kenneth at work.  And, in the near future, I might try to make him get me a sandwich.  I haven't been able to find any good clips of  the "Greenzo" episode that shows us what Kenneth's parties look like (and why he doesn't have parties anymore).  But, since I'd still like to honor of the early part of the evening*, here are some short, but fun moments from 30 Rock.  

First, the party song that almost rocked the party tonight.

Now, a moment from television that scarily imitates my own life.

And finally, the reason why I want Kenneth at the door of every party.

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*The other guests were about 5 minutes behind me.

A Spider-Man for the Wes Anderson set

 

A fun parody of Wes Anderson's filmic affectations as we slouch our way towards the weekend.  And, if you live in the NY/NJ/PA area, a final laugh before the snowpocalpyse tears the fabric of our society to shreds...at least, until the plows come out on Sunday.

This actually made me work out harder

At the gym, I tend to watch a lot of ESPN or CNBC (by the way, thank you for all the Jeopardy! answers...or questions...whatever).  In the case of ESPN, I like it and can watch it without sound and still know what's going on.  And, in the case of CNBC I have something to look at that keeps my eyes off Fox News.  But Friday night, I almost fell off my stationary bike because I had to very nearly let go of the handlebars and let out a whoop during this particular run.  And most nights I only feel compelled to yell at the TV when I'm on the treadmill in front of Jeopardy!

The week I almost didn't sum up

This week I experienced that kind of mid-week fatigue that makes a person rank his or her pajamas based on how dangerously comfortable they are.  (For the record, my cream and maroon star pajamas are now for weekend use only.)  So, I didn't sum up the week on Friday like I usually do.  But since I have things to write about that happened during my lazy Saturday, I'm going to stand by my decision to put things off.  So, without further ado, lets look at the things I missed, hadn't gotten to yet, or simply didn't know I wanted to write about until now.

1.)  All week, I meant to write  the response to this piece in The New York Times, "When Chocolate and Chakras Collide" about "foodie yoga" got on the internet.  I personally enjoyed this satirical piece from Gawker's Adrian Chen (writing as not-Adrian-Chen), "The Singular Delights of 'Foodie Yoga.'"  Honestly, as a yogi and as an eater, I'm not totally sure what I think about the idea of pairing yoga and fine dining.  As some one who plans her dinner during savasana (I know, I know, that's not the point) and I probably wouldn't turn down a dinner at the yoga studio if it was offered to me and it involved wine and chocolate, the trend seems to be taking things to a level that's slightly more pretentious than it should be.  It also makes me wonder if "foodie yoga" is actually a trend or just really smart marketing.

2.)  The man who wrote this passed away.

Many of us nerds - and some of our non-nerd friends - were sad.

3.)  I started watching season three of The Tudors.  I've only seen the first disc of the series on DVD (so, three episodes), but all I can say is: WHERE'S THE SEXY?

Remember this?  Now, I'm just hoping Jane dies by Episode 4 so we can all get on with our lives.  When did this become a political drama?  As someone who can actually get her info about Early Modern Politics elsewhere, I believe this needs to be a LOT soapier.

On a related note, I figured out the direction Jonathan Rhys Meyers has been given for the past three seasons: 1.) Start slowly, with something sarcastic but sort of dangerous-sounding, 2.) Fire up the crazy eyes, and 3.) Yell menacingly and as though you have unchecked power and the divine right to rule (and execute).

4.)  Jon Hamm hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend, and for the first time in a long time the show was funny.  There was a lot of joking about Don Draper, which is always welcome, but there was also a lot of very funny.  Here's the best sketch of the night, Ham and Buble:

 

And while I'm limiting myself to one sketch from last night as to avoid posting the entire show, I am going to go ahead and remind you about Jon Hamm's John Ham.

Videos my lady brain understands

As a big fan of the "Target Women" segments at Current*, I was both sad and happy when I read this funny interview, "'I Murdered a Screenwriter & Slept My Way to the Top': Getting Funny and Frank with Sarah Haskins" yesterday on Jezebel.  Haskins spoke to Jezebel's Dodai Stewart about how she'll no longer be doing "Target Women" and what she's got going on in the future.  On the one hand I thought, Al Gore, how you could let her go? But, on the other hand, the chance that there might be something else, like a really smart comedy starring Sarah Haskins sometime in the future makes things sort of okay.  In honor of her tenure as the host of "Target Women," I'm going to go ahead and post some of my favorites.

I found this one particularly hilarious since I like to spend my weekend evenings doing my laundry.


I really liked this one because I thought I was the only person who thought that the Today show was asking Ann Curry to take unnecessary risks.**  Actually, that's sugar-coating it.  Like Sarah Haskins, I thought they were trying to kill her, especially during the South Pole story.


Oh, and this one.  Because, well, poop jokes crack me up.  And she uses the word "poopadox." 


And I just like this one.


This one, too.




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*The "Target Women" segments are part of Current's show "Infomania," which I have never seen , if you don't count the "Target Women" segments.
**As a daily Today show watcher, I've had a lot of time to formulate my opinion.

A Case of the Yips

At the beginning of the semester, it's very, very, very easy to get into one's own head about one's teaching ability.  Especially if one's class in the previous semester ran freakishly smoothly.  A solid class can go steadily downhill as the sufferer of the yips gets into his or her own head and dismantles the pedagogical foundation on which his or her class is built.  Right now, I am suffering from the yips.

For those of you who don't know, the yips are defined as "an apparently baseless sudden loss of ability in one of a number of different sports."  I got that definition off of Wikipedia.  And while I would seriously discourage the use of the Wikipedia in any other forum, in this case it's fine.  Due to the deep breathing and running I've been doing to overcome the yips, I've been a bit distracted from formulating interesting things to say about popular culture.

To apologize for being distracted, I will now present you with a series of videos of songs I taped off the radio in middle school.*

First, a word from my serious 7th grade self:




And now, a song I made sure to listen to on my Walkman because even though I didn't quite know exactly what was being discussed, I had a feeling it was slightly raunchy:


1993 was CRAZY.

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*For fun, I checked to see what year these songs came out and was surprised to learn that I picked three songs from 1993 pretty much randomly.  I think this might have a lot to do with my family getting cable that year.

The week Martha Stewart (Living) desperately wanted me back

Is it a bad thing that an offer for a special magazine subscription rate makes me feel special?

It was back to school this week, which has meant meeting a new bunch of students, explaining my master plan to them (and convincing them that said master plan does NOT include the destruction of their academic careers), and adjusting to a new schedule.  The return to the semester grind also has me checking the skies in the evening to see if it's getting dark later.  Because when 5pm rolls around and it's still light out it means that May is almost here.  I guess until that time comes, I'll claim every 40-degree day is evidence of Spring's arrival and continue to wear short sleeves indoors while blasting the heat. 

Since I can't frolic and play outside without my jacket, here are some things that caught my eye this week:

1.)  We say goodbye to Conan O'Brien as host of The Tonight Show tonight.  His run was far too short, but I look forward to finding out where exactly he'll turn up.  If these past two weeks prove anything - aside from the fact that it's very interesting to watch late-night hosts dissect the events unfolding at NBC and The Tonight Show - wherever he turns up, he has an audience.  Here are some clips in case you need a reminder to watch him when he resurfaces.

Since Conan is trying to spend as much of NBC's money as possible before he leaves, he's started doing a bunch of sketches that have little to do with being funny and a lot to do with spending lots of money.  Here's the most expensive sketch to date (since Friday's show hasn't aired yet).


Oh yeah, and this week, the Masturbating Bear, who was not allowed to migrate to The Tonight Show from Late Night with Conan O'Brien, returned.


And, because I think this is brilliant, here's the cold open from the first episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. 


2.)  My friend Kim posted this great cartoon from The Oatmeal titled "10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling."  If only I could tattoo this on the brains of students.

3.)  The Office ran a clip show.  It annoyed me.  Don't tell me it's a new episode when it's really just pieces of old episodes strung together within a crappy story matrix.  It makes a show look like it's stalling for time before sweeps.  It also reminded me that the old episodes that were used to make the clip show were far better than the crappy clip show.  The Office, I thought you were better than this. 

4.)  I'm still trying to figure out if I like Gawker's Gawker.TV site.  I think I do, but I'm still trying to figure out the rhythm of the site.  Pros:  Really nice posting about the late-night TV situation.  And I really like that they end the day with a really good stand-up clip.

5.)  Heather Armstrong of dooce announced today that she signed a development deal with HGTV today.  It's like my TV world and my internet world are having a love child.

That ain't no way to live!

The semester started this week and focusing on not letting my inner monologue seep into what I'm saying when I'm teaching has robbed me of my energy.  I should be back to writing soon, but until then I leave you with Jack McBrayer's (Kenneth the Page from 30 Rock) series on Funny or Die, "Livin' 'Neath the Law with Jack McBrayer."  It's a semi-oldie, but a goody. 

Jack McBrayer in Livin' 'Neath The Law: Episode 1 from Jack McBrayer

Street Cred

Or maybe not.  I'm adding this as a counter-balance to my previous post of cheesy music and because I like this song and I was thinking about it.  For your listening pleasure, Wilco's "Hate it Here":

Good times never seemed so good...

It seems that every time I've gone out recently, I've had a version of the same conversation.  Regardless of who I'm talking to, the conversation has turned to music.  And not just any music, but the music that most of us know all the words to but wouldn't brag about listening to.  Except that now, for those of us who are either 1.) in our late twenties or thirties, 2.) in grad school or 3.) have figured out that no matter how hard we try, "cool" is not the first word that springs to people's minds when thinking about us, uncool music has become sort of cool.  For example, during the week of the ritual interviewing torture for graduate students in the humanities and languages known as the MLA Convention, I went to a dinner with a large group that included a few people who had just finished their interviews.  Aside from my boyfriend, I had never met any of these people before.  As things turned out, I ended up sitting in a spot that was convenient for having a conversation with the guys who were working on a healthy post-interview buzz about the bar's strange music selection.  And after several songs, talk turned to Billy Joel and Elton John.  We discussed the Chuck Klosterman essay about Billy Joel from Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, the general respect it is possible to give Glass Houses, and then I maneuvered the conversation in the direction I wanted it to go: a discussion of the fact that EVERYONE knows the words to "River of Dreams," and, in situations where people have their guard down or are distracted, you can catch other people singing along.  For example, I often catch myself singing along to the light rock playing in my supermarket.  And I'm usually not the only person in the store doing this.  So, for your listening and singing pleasure (and in the hope that you'll sing along, too):




I should mention that I received this particular album (cover artwork and video cameo by Christie Brinkley) on cassette for Christmas 1993, along with with Mariah Carey's Music Box.  Oh, to grow up in the 1990s.  This video also premiered the year we got cable, so I saw it no fewer than 7 million times.  But really, "River of Dreams" has the same power as this one:



The only difference is that Wilson Phillips's "Hold On" has that really singable quality that lends itself to being featured in movies where it's appropriate for the main characters to belt out a cheesy power ballad to each other in a car, like Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.  But the emphasis is - and always will be - on the fact that this song has a high cheese factor and is imprinted on the cultural DNA of a particular segment of the population.  As you can see, we can even sing the background parts:



But why this topic? You might ask.  And why now?  Well, at yoga class tonight, my teacher put on this song:



And I laughed.  And not just because the song is kind of goofy - because it is - but because I really, really like it and always want to sing along to it.  And it's not because there was a fun version of it in American Pie and that came out the year I graduated high school.  I own BOTH discs of James Taylor's Greatest Hits and used to write my papers to those CDs in college.  I really don't know why I like "How Sweet it is," or any James Taylor song, though I'm told that my enjoyment of this particular performance on Sesame Street in my toddler years might have something to do with it:



My whole family loves that version of "Up on the Roof."  And it just goes to prove something an adult once said to me when I was in middle school - Sesame Street is the best place for parents who are home with their kids to see solid performances by musicians they personally enjoy.

To play us out, I leave you with a song everyone knows (and a song that once prompted this conversation in a different bar):



Oh, yeah, and I have the 2-CD "Essential Neil Diamond," too.  I keep it with my "Essential Simon and Garfunkel," because every day is a party at my house.

Now, with more ways to bring skiing into your living room

I'm not usually a day napper, but I spent the morning on my skis and I'm pretty sure I'm going to bed at 8:30 tonight unless one of those day naps sneaks up on me. And seeing my skis (and taking pictures of them) in my living room made me about classier ways to tell people you enjoy slapping the slopes through living room decor. If you like ski-themed artwork or are just looking for something different (because it's not all ski stuff, but might see a segue developing here), you might want to check out Native Vermont, which features unique graphic and illustrated work by Ryan Fowler. And that is my plug.  And here is some of his work:

First, New Hampshire ski areas (there are other ski areas available):

And in his offerings of non-ski related work, here is "Two Hoots":

And "Black Bear Skinny Dip":

Those are just a few of what's out there, so if you like what you see and want to know more, you should head to Native Vermont's shop on Etsy. 

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(In the interest of full disclosure, I do actually know Ryan and may have occasionally enjoyed a sandwich and/or beer in his company. But that did not prompt me to write this post. I took a picture of my skis and since they're a few years old and nothing all that special, I did needed something else to write about.  And Ryan's stuff is good enough to write to the internets about, so that's how we get from point A to point B around here.)

A spy not being spied

There are things that seem relatively simple for most people that I honestly don't understand, like the popularity of bacon or what constitutes a reasonable lunch.  But more puzzling to me than those two things - and I think about both of them a lot - is the fact that sometimes on television there is a well-produced, clever, and fun show that seems to have a small audience a little support from its network.  While my description could apply to several shows that are currently on the air and many, many shows that are no longer running, the show that I'm currently most puzzled about is NBC's Chuck,or for those less familiar with what I'm talking about, the show with the hot girl that's on before Heroes.  

After being saved from near cancellation last spring by fan support, Chuck debuted last night with two back-to-back episodes, followed by another new episode tonight at the show's regular time.  And they were good.  You should watch them.  But for those of us who like to count things, that's three episodes in two days, and for those of you who occasionally watch network television, that's practically unheard of*.  This move could make a viewer assume that NBC really, really wanted to push Chuck and give newcomers a healthy dose of the show so that they'll tune in next week.  But here's where things get problematic:  First, networks are never that nice.  They never, ever use a business model based on my wants and needs, and for good reason.  Secondly, for weeks, NBC told viewers that Chuck would return in January, but they waited until last week to say when in January, exactly.  Unless, of course, you were enterprising and went to NBC's webiste to find out.  Easy enough, but you would think that the commercials for the new season would give viewers this information for obvious reasons, like ratings and whatnot.  I mean, they'd never do this to The Office.  

But enough about my confusion with the ways of the world and network tv.  Here's why I like Chuck - and this probably also why NBC and a lot of potential viewers have trouble with the show - it's hard to classify, so it makes it unlike anything else on television.  Which, for some of us is great, but for others, well, not so much.  So, here, in a convenient list, are my reasons why Chuck is a worthwhile program:

1. It's a comedy.  I think that's the show's official classification, but it's not "ha-ha" funny.  Yes, there are some laugh-out-loud moments, some good slapstick, but 30 Rock Chuck is not.  The comedy it situational and depends entirely on the conceit that grounds the whole show: To sum up, Chuck Bartowski is a generally nice guy who's sort of lost his direction and lives with his sister and her boyfriend (later husband) Devon, or Captain Awesome.  On his birthday, he gets an email from his former college roommate, Bryce Larkin, that downloads the CIA "Intersect" into Chuck's head, requiring him to need protection from all the spies and bad guys who now want to kill him, or, at least, gain access to that information.  Chuck is assigned  two protectors, John Casey and Sarah Walker, who acts as his girlfriend, and the comedy sort of flows from there.
2. Yes, it's a spy show, but it's also very aware of and willing to play with the conventions of the spy genre.  There are tuxedos and missions and bad guys galore, but the mission never, ever goes smoothly.  As you might have heard on the commercials for the Season 2 DVD, Chuck is often instructed to stay in the car, but "it's never safe in the car."
3. The theme song is an instrumental version of Cake's "Short Skirt, Long Jacket." 
4. While the show is set in real-world places and real-world time, just about everything else is well-written, enjoyable fiction. 
5. The supporting characters are quirky and oblivious.
6. The whole show is well-done and has the special effects budget that an over-the-top comedic spy show needs in order to succeed.
7. It's nerdy, but most of us are, whether we publickly acknowledge it or not.

Here's a good example of how all the things I'm describing come together on a regular episode of Chuck.  This scene is from an episode at the end of season two, "Chuck Versus the Ring," and it's set at the wedding of Chuck's sister Ellie and Captain Awesome.  Because nothing is simple in Chuck's secret world, the most recent bad guy seeking The Intersect, Roarke, has crashed Ellie's wedding.  Ellie's great, but a bit of a perfectionist and is especially stressed about her wedding.  She also has no idea what her brother's life is actually like or that her wedding is a hot spot for spies and bad guys.  Chuck has asked his best friend Morgan to stall until matters in the reception hall can be settled and so Morgan enlists two co-workers at the Buy More, Lester and Jeff, to entertain the guests in the church with their version of Sytx's "Mr. Roboto."  So here goes:




The interesting thing about a show like Chuck is that its one of those shows that people who are looking for clever television wish was on the air (if they're not already watching it).  The Monday evening television line-up has grown increasingly crowded - has anyone else noticed that there's nothing on on Tuesdays?** - since I'm assuming the networks bring out several quality shows on the night of the week that most people just want to sack out on the couch and forget that it's a long way to Friday.  But - and I say this from a place of love (a very different, meaner kind of love) - Chuck is much better than The Bachelor.  And you have a lot fewer questions about how much chlorine needs to go into the hot tub to get it really, really clean afterwards.




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*Except in the case of a network trying to dump all the final episodes of a cancelled show at once.  For a good example, see the example of the four-episode conclusion of Arrested Development aired opposite the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics on a Friday night.
**This, and the fact that there's no footnote function in Blogger, bug me.

The week we were allergic to everything and nothing

(Note: To actually see the videos I put in this post, you have to click through to the post itself.  Or you can just read it as though I'm referring to imaginary objects.  Either way is cool with me.)

This week was a slow one.  Not bad slow, but not good slow.  Just slow.  Things really picked up on Monday when I took a half-dose of Benedryl and drank some coffee.  Man, my body thought we were moving double-time.  But things after that were pretty sedate.  My greatest accomplishment was convincing my boyfriend to watch the two-hour season premiere of The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love.  I set out of prove to him that the first episode of The Bachelor is always hands down hilarious, and this premiere did not disappoint.  Now that I've figured out how to put videos in these posts, here's the moment from the premiere when Jake and the ladies played an impromptu/staged game of touch football in evening wear.



Interestingly, that was one of the less odd moments of the episode.  There was a whole lot of moderately crazy talk floating around (which seemed included the mantra of "I deserve this," which probably has its origins in one of those popular "if you believe it hard enough, it will come to you" self-help disciplines), some inapproriate jokes in both English and Cambodian, some dress up, and a lot of out of context talk about God.  Go figure.

And because I can't help myself, here's that off-color joke in Cambodian.



Sorry to ruin things, but it fell flat.  Aside from the joke not being very funny, it proved too risque for the participants on a show who are going to spend a lot of time making out in hottubs for the camera and possibly heading to the "Fantasy Suite" together.  It's one thing to allude to how your creative use of body chocolate won you the ring in the finale.*  It is quite another to refer to how you've been waxed, thankyouverymuch.

In other fun news, I found out today (which means probably everyone else knew already) that How I Met Your Mother is doing a musical episode for their 100th episode.  I kind of like musical episodes on television - mostly because I sort of like musicals - and therefore really enjoyed the video slideshow, "How I Serenaded Your Mother," that June Thomas of Slate put together to showcase television's best musical episodes.  The slideshow includes clips and brief explainations of how said shows were able to justify a typically non-singing cast suddenly bursting into song (and not always in tune).  It makes me almost want to watch Oz. 

To round things out for the week, I want to mention today's episode of Oprah, about husbands living secret double lives and the often illegal or disturbing consequences of those lives (I won't give anything away, but one of the charges that one of the husbands is doing time for is "body stealing").  If for some strange reason, you don't TiVo Oprah like I do, I highly recommend heading to Oprah.com to see what it was all about.  My only issue with the episode is - to paraphrase Dennis Leary when he spoke about Oprah and doing research on her show when writing his last book - I feel like I'm supposed to learn something from each episode, and today I wasn't sure what that lesson was.  Vigilance?  Don't be seduced by easy living?  Ask where the money comes from?  Men are terrible? Always listen to Maya Angelou? (Though the advice "When people show you who they are, believe them the first time" was pretty darn good.) **

 And that was my week. 

*Don't believe me?  Check out Season 1 of The Bachelor.

**I think that the biggest perk of being a celebrity like Oprah is being able to casually mention something Maya Angelou or a major celebrity said to you to one of us wee people who live in the glow of the television set as though we, too, speak to Ms. Angelou on a regular basis and she just never had that particular conversation with us. And I don't hear this as Oprah name-dropping Maya Angelou or holding her celebrity status over me.  Instead, I've filed it away as cocktail chatter should I ever have to make some small talk with either Maya Angelou or Oprah.  And that is the power of Oprah.

Flying by the seat of my pants...but sort of pulling it off

Included in my set of mental master plans is a scheme for developing a method of storyboarding my blog topics so that when I sit down to write everything is easy-peasy and smooth sailing.  This is an excellent idea.  In this ideal world I would have clear goals and set assignments. Right now, I have ideas to work on, stories to share, words to publish into the void but no way to really hold myself accountable for writing one thing and not writing another.  Unfortunately, I haven't found a good calendar yet to for sketching out these ideas.  Someday I'll discuss my co-dependent relationship with office supplies, but until then you'll have to bear with me and understand that the fact that I haven't been to Staples yet is crippling.  On a related note, this is also why my dissertation writing schedule is, as of this afternoon, also a bit scattershot.  I do plan, however, on getting to the store within the next day or two, so things will be far more organized and thus me-like soon.  Until then, however, I invite you to enjoy more randomness based on my whims.

First up, I miss television.  Yes, I know it still exists and that all I have to do is press the power button, but my shows are all on the same weird haitus that I am between semesters.  And for both myself and television, this break is starting to feel a bit endless (remind me I said that in February when I'm acting like a ginormous ingrate).  So, since I'm missing television so very much, I thought I'd share one of my favorite clips from a show that won't be coming back - Flight of the Conchords.   While I think that the first season of the show wasa bit stronger than the second (the length of time spent with the material did show occasionally), one of my absolute favorite episodes is Season 2's "Unnatural Love," that features the song "Carol Brown."



(I posted that through the magic of Google help and the YouTube.  Bow down to me as I am soon to take over the internet and all its tubes.)

Secondly, I thought I'd draw attention to some of my favorite pop culture criticism because I spent most of my time in my office this afternoon catching up on it.   Don't worry, I did some other stuff, too.  But anyway, since my office is quiet and I tend to need distractions as a general rule, I like to listen to the podcasts - known as Gabfests - that Slate offers on a weekly basis.  While I like all of them, from the original Political Gabfest to Hang Up and Listen, the Sport podcast, and will even listen to an Audio Book Club about something I haven't read (it's called being a responsible graduate student in the field of English), my most favorite Gabfest is the Culture Gabfest (you can click that).  It's very well rounded, funny, and informative.  This week we learned about sex scenes in literature, the changing status of the online magazine, competing theories about what happened to Van Gogh's ear, and much, much more.  Like a good number of things I like, it's slightly nerdy and eclectic, but it's also worth a listen.

I don't have a third thing right now, but when I get that calendar I will.

Since I'm still waiting for the tailor to be done with my speedsuit...

Since I've been on a brief blogging hiatus the past couple of days (I had some sleeping to do and some mysteries to read and some hives to break out in), I haven't had a chance to say "Happy New Year!"  So there it is.  And in honor of 2010 - and no, I don't know how I'm going to say it yet, but I hear it's a matter of public concern - here's a personal favorite from Threadless*.  It's called "Damn Scientists," and while I haven't figured out how to post a picture of it, if you click on the link, you'll see that the shirt laments many broken promises about the future, including the lack of personal jetpacks.

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* And if you don't know what Threadless is, it's a really cool website that sells really cool t-shirts designed by people who respond to their open call for designers.  And the prices are pretty darn reasonable.

Friday Show-and-Tell

To round out this relatively prolific Friday, I thought I'd share two things I'm enjoying this morning.  They're a little random, but then again, so am I.  Especially on lazy Fridays.  So, here are the things that are capturing my fancy while I decide what to have for lunch.

First, I'm positing a link to a This American Life episode titled "What is this Thing," originally broadcast February 4, 2005.  While the whole episode is a great discussion of love and its many forms - including long-time love, romance writing, and gender - I'm really positng it for Sarah Vowell's piece, "The Greatest Love Story of the 20th Century."  This love story is the story of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash and the song "Ring of Fire."  It's about 10 minutes long (it starts about 46 minutes in, though I highly recommend the whole episode) and discusses how the couple met, how June Carter Cash came to write "Ring of Fire," the many interpretations of the song, and their marriage.

Second, I've been really enjoying Salon's "The Year in Crazy 2009."  I'm linking to the Gosselins as to not ruin the rest of the somewhat predictable, but still interesting, list. 

  

Cinematic Musings

Even though it comes a little late in the game, I thought I would write about the newest Wes Anderson film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name.  While I will admit that I generally like Wes Anderson's work - despite recent criticisms that he's become a bit too "twee" and has basically taken and unique aesthetic and turned it into a meandering gimmick - I thought that Fantastic Mr. Fox was definitely something special.  And I'm not saying that simply because I sometimes live my life in moderately twee climate.  I've seen almost every Wes Anderson movie (with the exception of Bottle Rocket, which I have had on DVD for quite some time, but haven't watched yet for reasons that are unclear, even to me) and felt during Fantastic Mr. Fox the way I did when I first saw  Rushmore and The Royal Tennenbaums  - like I was seeing something new, something that pleased me aesthetically, and something that I wouldn't be able to find everywhere.

Fantastic Mr. Fox was beautifully shot and designed; the stop-motion is just beautiful and the painstaking attention to detail in creating the world of Mr. Fox showcases what Anderson is best at doing - creating a world that looks familiar, but is completely unique in and of itself.  Wes Anderson movies are always a little emotionally heavy, especially about family matters, the movie's main plot - the heist caper - and the casting of George Clooney as Mr. Fox adds both lightness and direction to the movie.  While I tend to like Anderson's darker humor and the emotional heaviness of his live-action movies, I thought that there was a balance in The Fantastic Mr. Fox that I really haven't seen in many of his movies.  Funny things were sometimes simply funny and not funny/sad and the moments of emotion or familial tension were secondary to the ultimate direction and pace of the movie.  Throughout the entire 90 minutes I spent in the theater, I didn't feel rushed; I thought the movie lingered enough and moved enough in equal proportions.  In Anderson's live-action movies, we tend to dwell; but then again, I think that's the entire point of those films.  But it was nice to see how Anderson's vision could be focused to build to a crescendo and a satisfying resolution without losing its essential uniqueness. 

Fantastic Mr. Fox has received generally good reviews and has been reviewed as a relatively benign movie and even touted as a kind of redemption for Wes Anderson's film career and style, so when I saw a headline on DoubleX a few weeks ago about a racist moment in the movie, I had to look into it a bit more.  The moment in question one of the the final scenes, in which Mr. Fox pumps his fist in the air to a wolf, a gesture that is returned by the mysterious, non-English-speaking, fearsome animal.  While I understood Mr. Fox's raised fist at the end of the movie to be a sign of victory, I know the sign of the raised fist comes with more modern implications than, "Go team!  We did it!  I have faced all my fears and reach out to you in a sign of triumph!"  For a better understanding of the debate I'm only slightly tapping into, here's Lauren Bans's "A Racist Moment in Fantastic Mr. Fox," from DoubleX, in which she discusses the moment as another example in which " Wes Anderson's  oft-criticized 'mishandling' of race peeks through," and Ross Douthat's response, "The Call of the Wild,"  from The New York Times, in which he highlights the multiple meanings of the gesture.

For Anderson fans, die-hard or not, here's a clip from Rushmore that includes one of my favorite lines, "She's my Rushmore, Max."  It also does a good job of showing how a standard Anderson movies moves - slowly, deliberately, and building oddly two-dimensional but moving characters.  And here's my favorite scene from The Royal Tennenbaums, in which Richie Tennenbaum's "usual escort, the one from his days on the circuit" meets him "by way of the Green Line Bus."  I love this scene for it's camera work, Alec Baldwin's narration, and becuase it's my favorite work from both Gwenyth Paltrow and Luke Wilson.  Oh, yeah, and the music isn't bad either.  Oh, and for tennis fans, here's another favorite, Richie's last match at Windswept Fields. 

A Christmas Spectacular! and a Literal Mug Shot

I'm still a little flattened today, so I've decided to share some of my favorite musical numbers from my favorite Christmas musicals.  (Calm down, I only have, like, two favorites.)  And while I know it's more fashionable to be out of the holiday spirit than in it, I'm going to indulge the cheery side of my personality today.  So, here goes nothing:

If I were still in college, my roommate and I would have already broken out the DVD of A Muppet Christmas Carol and annoyed the people we lived with who found this behavior immature.  This movie tends to be particularly hard to find on television; Christmas 2003 is the only time I remember stumbling across it, and it was such a welcome surprise that my whole family watched.  For this particular holiday pick, I've chosen a song that I think perfectly captures the feeling of Christmas Eve when you're a kid and Christmas is so loaded with excitement.  Here's "One More Sleep 'Til Christmas" (Small note: this is in that odd, early '90s period when they hadn't found a solid replacement for Jim Henson, so Kermit sounds a little off.  Not way off, but enough to add a little unintentional gravity to an otherwise hopeful movie.)

My second selections are from a Christmas movie that follows in the grand tradition of most "classic" Christmas movies - it's a solid film that is, incidentally, set at Christmastime.  What I love about older Christmas movies is the way in which everyday life is balanced with the idea the sense of a little (but not too much) extra possibility on Christmas.  While this description could easily apply to It's a Wonderful Life, right now I'm speaking about White Christmas, which, when you think about it, features exactly one Christmas song.  The rest of the numbers in the movie are about dancing, snow, gratitude, and the pitfalls of life outside the army.  So, the two videos I'm picking have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas.  First, "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)," featuring the very young, very pretty Rosemary Clooney (I couldn't get the whole song off YouTube, but this works well enough).  Secondly,  here's a song that frequently that gets cut when a network decides that it doesn't have the programming space for the epic version of White Christmas, "Snow," which, I think, perfectly captures the fun of going to Vermont in December.  I have found, though, that repeatedly singing "Snow" both on the way to and during Christmas in Vermont is not something everyone appreciates.

Speaking of Christmas in Vermont, here's a picture of a mug from Rosie's in Middlebury, where I plan to breakfast at some point next week.

Note on a Sick Day

In an ideal world, when one is sick, a marathon of his or her favorite comfort television shows should be airing somewhere on television.  During the holiday season, this marathon should be offset by a variety of quality, engaging Christmas movies.  This weekend, however, as I try to will myself to shake this cold, the cable gods have not complied.  And, I played my Netflix hand all wrong and watched everything on Friday.  Yes, I could watch a movie, but the ability to flip around channels for unexpected television delights is the entire point of a sick day on the couch.  In honor of today's slim pickings, I've complied a short, quick list of ideal sick-day television programming that allows for regular and enjoyable channel-surfing:

1.  A long block of procedural police/detective shows, like The Closer and Bones.  
2.  White Christmas, which is, by my estimation, the ideal holiday season afternoon movie.
3.  Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Cake Boss, Alton Brown, or Iron Chef America
4.  Music videos
5.  A marathon of MythBusters or Dirty Jobs
6.  The Love Boat
7.  Law and Order: Criminal Intent

 I asked my mom this question, too, which gives me my #8:
The Mary Tyler Moore Show and any of the Bob Newhart shows, though I think she leans heavily towards the Chicago/dentist version.

And for those who are simply too cold to go out and ordering pizzas like me, here's a little Lazy Sunday.