saves on money. not necessarily time though.

so go to google maps.
type in "dallas texas to london uk".
check out step 26.

Seriously! OMG.

So last night I attended my very first Mavs game!! After watching my boys, er, I mean, Your Dallas Mavericks for four years now (I was tricked into loving basketball once upon a time), I finally got to see Dirk, J Terry, Devin and Josh (and Barea, who Jake swears is not 6 feet tall). Some slam dunks, some super fast Harris spins, Diop lovingly missing free throws and other greatness. We even got little theater cards of Avery (aka "the General") and mine hangs proudly on my cube wall. Our neighbors were an elderly trash-talking couple (love them). And a row of teens behind us that sang along with me to "SexyBack" and made the funniest comments ever trying to persuade Champ to toss t-shirts our way. I do hope Dirk and J-Ho feel better today...and certainly tomorrow for the Knicks game. 105 to 103. Kick it! I have a post-Mavs glow. ...Oh, and it's nothing new, but I gotta say officially that DartRail to Victory Station so rules.

And in other news, this might be the cutest thing I've ever seen:

afi dallas - day of rest

four movies in and i'm sad to say that i'm happy to have a day off. especially since i have 2-3 movies days until the end of the festival. time for a little recap? perhaps.

the rape of europa was good. not amazingly good, but well worth the attention for anyone interested in the subject (it's a documentary about nazis looting art during the war, the monuments men trying to protect it, and the mystery of what happened a lot of the art since then). the theater was sold out which sort of surprised me, but then again i think i was the youngest person there and not really part of their target audience...

i saw exiled last night. after a 20 minute delay and a projection flub, i saw what can only be called one of the most badass movies ever. check it:



really, hong kong gangsters and guns and friends and guns and dumb cops and guns. what more does a person need? i heard it was picked up for distribution, so when if/when it comes to town, we will all go as a suck it field trip, k?

help a chick out

the one and only yankee chick posted this bulletin on myspace a couple of days ago:

Please help me collect information for a book proposal by spending 15-20 minutes filling out an online survey about love. I ask for only first names and I will be the only person viewing responses. The website collects no identifying information. All responses are completely confidential and if I use any of the information in my book, all names and identifying details will be changed.

so swing on over to sophie's survey and fill the thing out so that she can get lots of info for her proposal. pretty please? thanks.

afi dallas festival - day 3?

at least for me it's day three. the festival is finally here and more and more i'm becoming aware of the fact that my pets will see very little of me for the next week. i'll just throw down a bowl of kibble before heading out each night -- i'm sure they won't mind.

so far i've committed to 10 movies. yeah, i know it's a lot, especially for someone who still has a netflix movie from about two months ago. but hey, who knows when i'll ever have the chance to see these movies again...

saturday i saw the go-getter at the angelica, which i completely loved. i now need to go out and buy a bunch of m ward albums. and i know, once again why everyone loves zooey deschanel. i think they said the movie will be distributed/released this fall, and i fully intend to see it again. i don't want to ruin anything for anyone, so i won't tell you about the movie itself, but just go. trust me.

sunday was the good life at the magnolia, aka part two of zooey worship. i did enjoy it, but i think i need a little more time for it to settle in and not seem so depressing. sad, but in a good way -- if that makes sense. surprising here and there. and my reaction to it. the post screening q & a was pretty entertaining and i learned that (a) winnepeg looks a lot like nebraska (b) steve berra talks/acts like tony barsotti (this is a good thing), (c) patrick fugit aged quite nicely and (d) ginnifer goodwin is as sweet as she looks.

so now there are 8 more movies to go.* if anyone wants to join me, i still have the rape of europa, netherbeast incorporated, diggers, exiled, punks not dead, shut up and shoot me, hot fuzz, and of course, fay grim coming up this week. or if you think there's anything i must see, let me know.

* unless someone can get me in to away from her and/or the ten, which are both sold out. then i'd be crazy happy.

Rule #83: Don't Piss Off Widespread Fans

I have never seen anything like these comments (totaling 534 at the time I posted) to Darryl Smyers' "Widespread Yawning" article in this last issue of the DO. Um, wow. (I only got a measly 20 for my bash on American Idol DAUGHTRY. Must be losing my touch... I also must be a male according to those peeps, but whatever...)

Darryl, You've made quite an impact in Panic Nation. (I just really hope they didn't post your real phone number.) Hats off to you, man. The reaction is amazing.

UPDATE: Darryl address Widespread Panic fans/Smyers haters here on Unfair Park. Looks like that was his number...and that sucks more than I can say. If nothing else came from the barrage of comments, now nearing 600, at least they proved what he said in his story: WP fans tolerate no criticism. And apparently, they have no sense of irony or humor either.

New National

Over the last couple of years, The National has become one of my favorite bands. Moody, effed-up lyrics just like I like 'em, the low baritone/bass voice of Matt Berninger (that totally reminds me on occasion of the singer from Furniture and on others Nick Cave), heavy use of piano and a knack for what I like to call "building" songs makes them key players in the fight for placement in my CD player.

Thanks to Noah for looking at this first since I heard a song coming from his cube and excitedly asked, "That sounds like The National, who is that?" "The National," he responded. At which point I quickly clicked over here to witness the goodies for myself ("Fake Empires" from the upcoming release Boxer--which is also available for listenin' on the band's MySpace. Pitchfork also features a preview for the new documentary on them by Vincent Moon (!!!) so there's plenty to satisfy your five-minute-bored-at-work distraction needs.

put your dukes up

if you're anything like me (and to a certain extent you must be if you're reading this), then you've had the the cure vs. depeche mode argument before. just by my ordering of the bands you can see where i stand, but i must give it to to folks over at stylus for their approach at the age old battle. even if they came up with the wrong winner. i mean seriously "less embarrassing songs" gives depeche mode the advantage? what about overall badassness? where are the points for that one?!?!

Crain Removed from Ballot

For a campaign with 1,571 MySpace friends, collecting 473 signatures to ensure a spot on the mayoral ballot should have been a cakewalk for Zac Crain and co. But according to this nugget, Crain has been officially removed from the ballot due to lack of valid signatures, leaving 12 candidates to battle it out for the big city seat.

I guess now I have to decide who among the remaining 12 is my new candidate...'cause dammit, I'm still gonna vote.

Oh well, Zac. Next time, man.

EDIT: Andrea has a snazzy post over at Unfair Park with more deets.

Bubbie!

Now, I don't know if it's my propensity to call furry creatures, cute things and peeps "bubbie" (that just happens to be the name of this dancing queen), or if it's how freakin' spirited this 80-something is, or if it's how Ben Kweller's grandma was willing to star (and lip-sync) in his new video. I don't know which it is, but I love it.

Thanks to Amanda for calling my attention to this.

i second that emotion

i totally take responsibility for my lack of posting here -- i've been too busy washing sharpie off of my arms and wondering what this horrible pain in my stomach can possibly be. thanks to everyone who celebrated the big 3-0 with me, even if i wasn't there.

i'm out of my jammies and back at work, ready to entertain you people. assuming i can think of something entertaining to do....which i'm working on. i swear.

until then, i bring you the grand canyon skywalk. which scares the hell out of me (i'd link to the official site, but it seems to be down at the moment, most likely due to an onslaught of new traffic). i didn't think i was afraid of heights before, but now....

Forgive Us!

We've had yet another 30th birthday to celebrate (yay, Jen!!) and laryngitis (or whatever decided to nab my vocal abilities and energy). We'll be back in full effect soon. Promise.

For now, and just in case you haven't seen it, here's the list of recalled dog foods (canned). Eek! We love our fur babies and bubbies and know some of you do too.

so picture me, just sitting here doing my work. endless live searches, realizing that it will never be as good as google and cursing their weirdass search results under my breath.

i do a search for "soy" and expect maybe a wikipedia link (oh wiki, how i love you) or something, you know, informative. the second link on the list informs me that "soy is making kids 'gay'" according to some guy named jim over at worldnetdaily, whatever the hell that is. waaa...? i read a bit of his commentary -- something about how soybean products are "feminizing" our young. yup. he says, "Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. " really?!?! so by boycotting soy milk, we can have a fully hetero world in coming generations? who knows though, it may work better than praying the gay away....



on another note, me and my ever growing love of canadian music (don't ask me, i blame frank) are supercrazyexcited about the upcoming stars remix album, do you trust your friends? it's not coming out until may, but believe you me, i'm already ready. it almost makes up for the fact that i will be missing out on amy millan's sxsw showcase. still wondering if i would be willing to make the drive to see her....

Aw, You Guys...

This week in the DO, I put in my two cents on the new Arcade Fire, Neon Bible, and Noah and I get to IM'ing on the upcoming Andrew Bird release, Armchair Apocrypha.

Now, what we weren't expecting was a satire of our Bird review coming from Adam McGill and Eric Celeste (aka Awesome McFuntimes) over at D Magazine's Frontburner. Flattery, or making me laugh, will get you everywhere, you know. So thanks guys, corndogs're on me. Eric, see you next time on the dancefloor.

So Disturbing

So, over at Unfair Park today, Robert brought my attention to this turd of a Top 200: The Definitive 200.

Yeah, right. Definitive my ass.

First off, David Bowie appears for the first time at number 171?! Are you freaking kidding me? And Velvet Underground? Hello? I could kick Nico in the face, but that doesn't mean the band's music (with or without her) wasn't relevant or important or completely influential. Pixies? Um, K. I'll just stop. That effing Creed ranks above The Clash's London Calling makes me want to cry. Jewel has no business being on there. Nor does Linkin Park or Enya.

In short, there are so many things wrong with this so-called definitive list. But Wilonsky has a much less heated, well-written piece than my tirade so check it.

can't.stop.working.

it's been crazy hectic on the job front lately -- sorry. i should have time to pay attention to the world around me starting next week, i promise. btw, i hate msn now.

i'm taking a moment from my busy day to watch the new harry potter trailer. over and over again. yes, i got upset and threw the book across the room when i first read it, but it's gonna be good. some people, are flying across an ocean to see a naked daniel radcliffe right now, but i will patiently wait until july. or maybe not so patiently.

also, i need to make sure you guys are watching the black donnellys. we are addicted and there have only been two episodes, so there's plenty of time for you to catch up. soooo good. it's on right after heroes, so you don't even have to change the channel.


...stay tuned for details about the event that will be known as my 30th birthday. ack.

Donate, Browse, Buy, Whatever...Just Help Lucy

And kudos to Boca Tinta's Amanda Newman for donating 10% of the door from this Thursday's show at Dada to Lucy's sugery fund. Read more about that (and the details of the sale since the flyer is so dang small) here.

This Kicks So Much Ass

I love that AP had a Paris Hilton Blackout. I love it so much I'm not even gonna put up a pic.

Toogans, Noah, for this gem. Toogans.