Random Cute Girl #4

Sangeeta Bhatia- So I have a thing for intelligence. This week's cute girl is working on developing artificial livers, something that could potentially save a lot of lives. She mixes her knowledge of biology, engineering, and technology to come up with some novel ideas. Not only does she have a Ph D from MIT, she also has a great sense of work/life balance. She does not obsess with work outside of work and seems like a great mom too.

DVD Tuesday #4

Killer Clowns from Outerspace. Haha this movie freaked me out as a kid. Just watched it on Chiller tonight, and I have no idea what I was afraid of. Great movie to watch baked or somehow mentally enhanced.

Music Mondays #4

The Dead Weather- Treat Me Like your Mother

Jack White's newest project.

Television Thursday #3

Lowell the Hammer Stanley ads. If you grew up in the Hampton Roads area these are the basis of your childhood. I'm mad I couldn't find the newer ones, the guy has gone insane and the intensity has been ratcheted up like 10 notches. He actually growls like a lion in the newest one.

Random Cute Girl #3

Alexa Chung. I never knew about Alexa until I was flipping channels and ran across her show on MTV. She is funny, quirky, seems down to earth and that accent just is hot. I guess she was well known before this show, but I am too lazy to look up the background. Plus I'm late for work

DVD Tuesdays #3

The Motel.

Great movie about being a first generation american, a teenage boy, and growing up without a father. The main character grows up, lives, and works at a sleazy motel with his family. He ends up meeting an alcoholic Korean dude who ends up being sort of a father figure. The dialogue of the movie is great and it is overall a funny movie. This kid has raging hormones and the girl in the movie feels the brunt of it haha.

Music Mondays #3

Loo and Placido- Betty Got Jacked

Mashup kings and cool dudes.

Caught!

I'm sorry, I know she is 16 but I think that I would have snuck a peek too. It is only human nature. Go 'head Obama! Sarkozy was pimp about it, the crossed arm finger to chin move. Apparently the girl is Mayora Tavares, a junior delegate for the meeting.

Flashback Friday #2

Ghostwriter. I used to remember coming home after school turning on PBS and watching this show. I used to have the notebook and pen, read the books, and I think even had a crush on one of the girls on the show (Lenny). The premise is a group of kids solve mysteries with the help of a ghost who can read any text and relay it to them. The ghost can't talk, but can float letters in the air. The best episode was the Stoop Dude episode, where the kids entered a contest to be in a comic book. The contest had a scavenger hunt and one randomly old guy in the contest. He cheated and did everything he could to win the contest. Of course the kids prevailed.

Television Thursday #2

Ninja Warrior! This Japanese import is basically an obstacle course on steroids. Stage 1 is like the first couple American Idol episodes. You have the serious and the goofy mf'ers all mixed together. Round 1 usually weeds out all the goofy people there for a laugh and leaves all the serious contenders. Round 2 is harder than Round 1 and tests your agility and speed. Round 3 is almost impossible focusing on your upper body strength in an onslaught of obstacles including the dreaded cliff hanger. The cliff hanger has you hanging in the air with your fingertips as you try to make it across a moat. If you complete Round 3, Round 4 is even harder and is a straight race against the clock in a vertical rope climb. Only 2 people have completed all 4 rounds. What makes it even worse is if too many people complete any of the rounds, the next season they make it even more difficult. Those Japanese!

Random Cute Girl #2

Elyse Luray. So I was watching PBS the other day and the show History Detectives comes on. Then this beauty pops on the screen, Elyse Luray. She is one of the detectives on the show that helps find out the origin and history of artifacts that people bring. According to the show's website, she is a student of art and architecture and was one of the top appraisers for the famous Christie's Auction House. Smart and cute what a great combination.

Random excerpt from her interview page:

Is there a puzzle or mystery you dream of solving?
In light of all that the Ancient Egyptians have told us in countless text and paintings about their civilization, they left such gaping holes of how the pyramids were constructed, or how obelisks were raised and the process of mummification. Some believe it was considered so sacred that it was only past on verbally to those considered worthy of the facts. I would love to meet the scientist and architects of this time and talk to them about how they were so advanced?

DVD Tuesday #2

Director Series, Vol. 1: The Work of Director Spike Jonze is one of the best collection of music videos out there. Spike Jonze is super creative and the artists he has worked with are some of the best in all genres. How can you go wrong with the director of Being John Malkovich. A sample of the videos he has directed that are on the DVD:

Weezer- Buddy Holly
Beastie Boys- Sabotage
Pharcyde- Drop
Fatboy Slim- Weapon of Choice

Music Mondays #2

Main Source- Lookin at the Front Door off the album Breaking Atoms. Classic hip hop. Released in 1991, probably one of the handful of CDs everyone agrees is a hip hop must have. The production on this album is near perfect, and this track has that funky drum loop and vocal sample that signal summer to me.

Main Source- Lookin at the Front Door.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/62303303a0ae87e6/

Flashback Friday #1

One of my fav. Michael Jackson songs. Artistically a genius, personally very flawed.

Are there less lightning bugs out there?

I remember when I was a kid catching lightning bugs in the summer. There used to be a whole bunch of them and catching them in jars signaled the beginning of summer. Now here I am at 26 and maybe seeing like one flash at night. What gives? Did my revisionist history make more bugs in my childhood? Does my adult self not posses the wonderment and childlike characteristics to see the bugs? Does working through summer and no more summer vacations get symbolized by the lack of bugs? Or is it global warming or something scientific? My jar would be empty this summer :(

Ps: That is not me holding the jar, that is a google image search guy holding a jar of bugs. I don't think I could catch that many bugs and/or grow a goatee. Damn asian genes.

Television Thursday #1

I watch a lot of TV, like a ridiculous amount. I think I am an addict. Here is where I give you a preview of what shows I am watching. This week:

Mantracker.

-From the wiki page: Mantracker is a Canadian reality television series that premiered in April 2006 on the Outdoor Life Network. In the United States, the program currently airs on the Science Channel.

The show's premise involves an expert tracker, known as "Mantracker," who pursues two individuals in the remote Canadian wilderness. The pursued must elude capture while attempting to reach a finish line within 36 hours. Mantracker never meets the team prior to the chase, nor does he know their destination. Traveling on horseback and aided by a local guide, Mantracker mostly relies on his well-honed tracking skills to trail them, although some equipment (such as regular and infrared binoculars) is also used. As stated by Grant in the show's introductory tagline, "Know your land. Know your prey."

So think of the Fugitive except Tommy Lee Jones is on horseback with a rugged ass beard, Harrison Ford is two people from Canada running for their lives and the setting is somewhere in Canada. From this show I realized that Canada has some rugged land, horses hate brush, and trying to escape without leaving tracks is damn near impossible. The best ones are where the prey do something to piss off the mantracker and he steps his game up. Thank you Science Channel for bringing me the second best show from Canada (Degrassi being first and probably being discussed in a later Television Thursday)

Random Cute Girl #1

Wednesday is random cute girl day. First edition features Anna Ellison of Ace of Cakes. She is the art director for Charm City Cakes and seems to be the most artistic of all the crew. She has that awkward, artsy cute quality to her that I love. She seems like a real cool person to hang out with, not uptight.

DVD Tuesday #1

Tuesdays seem like a good day to showcase my favorite DVDs or ones I want to watch. This first DVD is so random and low budget its hilarious. At least to me anyway. I am pretty sure for everyone it is hit or miss. "Evil Alien Conquerors" features Chris Parnell (SNL) and Deidrick Bader (Drew Carey Show) as aliens that land on earth to destroy it. Something about aliens in footy pajamas with a love for Smirnoff Ice made me laugh. When they can't complete their mission, a 100 foot tall monster named Croker is sent to kill them. This guy is hilarious. A must watch for people who like movies like Joe Dirt.

VirginFest is free this year.

Virgin Fest (Virgin Mobile Fest?) usually has a pretty good lineup with a lot of variety and this year seems to be no different. The big difference, its FREE! If you are planning to take a trip up to MD anytime soon, I would maybe plan around this concert. I think the free comes in if you pick up your ticket in advance at a will call. To get a ticket sent to your house it costs $5 per ticket, which still seems reasonable considering the lineup.

Scheduled to perform:
Blink-182 • The Bravery • Franz Ferdinand • Girl Talk • The Hold Steady • Jet • Mates of State • The National • Public Enemy • St. Vincent • Taking Back Sunday • Wale • Weezer - Dance Tent: Danny Howells • Holy F*ck • Lee Burridge • Pete Tong
@ Merriweather Post Pavilion • Columbia, MD
August 30
11am Gates

Music Mondays #1

So I think everyday I will try to have some sort of feature. Mondays seem like a good day for music, alliteration and all. This week we have a track off the recent Wale mixtape, Back to the Feature. Wale is an MC from D.C. with a style I dig. This track has him over one of my favorite Peter, Bjorn, and John songs "Nothing to Worry About". The video for that song is pretty awesome too, youtube it.

Wale-Nothing to Worry About (mp3 zshare)

Art Project Idea, maybe

Inspired by the 1000 faces project in the U.K. (http://www.1000faces.co.uk/index.htm), I kind of want to do the same thing for Virginia Beach. It might take me all summer, but I want to get 1000 portraits done. The little twist that I want to add is that:

1. I can't approach anyone, they have to approach me and ask for a photo. I will be wearing a shirt that says if they want to participate in the project to get my attention.
2. I want to make a facebook group to post the photos, let the people know it will be on facebook and see how many get tagged by those people. I also want to see what they write on the wall.

If anyone wants to help out and can kind of keep to the two guidelines above, email me! (flimsymc@gmail.com) I am about to make the facebook group and some cards to hand out to those that get their photo taken.

R.I.P Billy Mays

As a pop culture junkie, Billy Mays was one of my favorite pitchmen. He never beat a hooker like the Shamwow guy (that I know of) and him and Anthony Sullivan getting on each others nerves on the Discovery show "Pitchmen" was a fun thing to watch. I never bought any of your products, but you were the king of infomercials from your blue shirted introduction into our lives as the OxyClean guy to the guy hawking the Awesome Auger, some weird thing that attached to a cordless screwdriver. Is it bad that I feel more affected by this than Michael Jackson dying?