stuff about where I live and play, and maybe some stuff about where I work and play.

1.31.2007

it's a sad day in batg-ville.

(beauty & the geek results below)
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so, the geeks have to try and get ladies' phone numbers (again), but this time they have furry accomplices (uh, dogs). this challenge was pretty lame and contrived and whatever, nate wins by usurping mario's leftovers.

way to go, nate. (fake geek, what?!)

then the ladies have to create doghouses* and cecille pulls a "mr. boston" and meanders through the challenge like a monkey on qualudes.

will someone PLEASE pull a ripsi on cecille already?



so anyway, megan/scooter are safe along with nate/cecille, which defaults nadia/mario and niels/jennylee into the elimination round.



noooooooooooooooo.



this is not going to end well.


jennylee and nate decide that it's now or never if they are going to make out and no one is the least bit surprised when they do. except, maybe, nate. [insert eye roll here]

anyway, both teams put up a valiant fight, but in the end mario narrowly misses a really questionable question and he and nadia are sent packin'.



i cry.







goodbye nadio. so long maridia. ye shall be missed.









* it must be reality show build-a-doghouse-week

your mom goes to college.

i, uh, dropped my phone in a puddle tonight.

it's totes d.o.a.


um. shit.


five months until i can get an iPhone, yeah?


d'oh!




um, oops.

based on the amount of press and publicity it has generated, i still can't decide if this stunt was a) totally awesome or b) majorly effed up. i'm guessing people in boston are going to say b)...

Adult Swim ATHF LED billboards cause havoc in Boston, MA

do you think aqua teen hunger force fans are going to love this? i kinda think so. and as for the success of this whole thang as publicity stunt? there's no such thing as "bad" publicity, right? hmm.

eep!

road rules?

so last night was the official premiere of the new and exciting season of road rules. i know, most exciting night of the week, tv-wise, right?

veronica was actually pretty tame compared to what i'm used to seeing. that is, until, it became clear that she had a giant bulls eye on her back... veronica no likey being "unfairly" singled out for the pit. well. um. sorry, sweet cheeks.

abram was in prime form, susie gave us tmi about what happens to her bowels when she gets nervous and then somehow whined her way to a decent showing in the challenge, shane continues to be one of my favorite although i can't imagine why he'd want to align with darth vader, but maybe i just answered my own question, adam just adams around and acts adam-y and kina's hair tries to swallow her head whole while kina acts self-righteous, per usual.

overall, i do think the season has potential. i think voting was already closed by the time i watched the show (which was midnight-ish) but HAD i voted, i would have tried to keep shane & send veronica EVEN THOUGH i know veronica makes for better TV. however, i also know that she's a wildcat and will probably rip off the limbs of whomever she faces in the pit and then return to the RV anyway. then the real madness will begin once they send her back to the pit next week. mwahahahhhahahahAa... ha.

as for the pit crew, did they cast these guys from the pile of rejects from next? i don't think they could be any more annoying or cheesy if they tried. the only one i can kinda stand at this point is dan, the professional wrestler! yeah, that's what i am talking about. would love to see veronica try to beat that ass. mwahahahahhahahahahahaahaahaha.

and back to the deprivation chamber i go.

1.30.2007

deprivation.

today i was in a training program at work wherein i wasn't allowed to have my blackberry, sidekick or laptop available to me. it was an exercise in deprivation the likes of which i have never experienced. well, unless you count when i went to london a few months ago and couldn't use my cell phone and i didn't have my berry yet. but i still had access to my laptop AT ALL TIMES and so therefore i was always connected to the world.

anyway, i'm not really sure what my point is, except, well, if it was SUPER hard for me to mentally function from 9a to 5p without any of my devices at my disposal, how the hell do i expect myself to survive a remote island for more than 30 days?

ponder that!

1.29.2007

gulp

i honestly don’t know how i managed to watch so much tv tonight. i must have the endurance of a freaking cockroach. and, ps, if you don’t want to know what happened on the white rapper show, i love new york, prison break, heroes OR 24, you best be skipping along to another entry now, son.

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white rapper show
in an unexpected turn of events, 100 proof steps off. yo, i totally did NOT see that coming. so long, proof. your old school raps will be missed. in other news, this show is quickly emerging as one of aaron’s new favorites. therefore, it must be terribly awesome. other highlights included: jus blaze, house of pain aka whatever they are called now and some keith guy. i don't know. aaron was excited. there were also a lot of strippers in this episode. i hope those two facts aren't related.

i love new york
onix learns the terrible consequences of disrespecting sister patterson, 12-pack does possibly the world’s most hilar version of the [drunk] robot (in a leopard print pair of underpants, no less), mr. boston sticks his foot directly in his mouth, heat googly eyes his way out of the house and chance continues to “charm” new york. this house gets crazier by the day. do you love it?

prison break
the standoff between mahone and michael amplifies as the brohams (brohyms, jason m?) release a video designed to confuse the hell out of everyone except sarah. i’m still confused about whether or not it worked? i’m going with yes, for now. bellick shows up with a shiner the size of texas and haywire lives up to his name by going postal on a random wisconsin chick’s dad. but, ps, what’s up with the “orgy of hate” t-shirt, miss?

dear prison break,

i’m still on board, but i’m getting worried that you might jump the shark soon. um, please don't.

sincerely,
ruby

ps. more haywire.

heroes
more questions, more questions, and more questions. but seriously, where did hiro’s power go? i’m not buying this sword thing. something else is wrong with his powers. maybe it's his daddio. otherwise... what does his dad have to do with it? my favorite? micah discovers the best use of a power. EVER. empyting cash machines. so. awesome. sylar's back (it's bad that i'm kind of excited abou this one, right?), peter's m.i.a. with the awesome invisibility action, something about a sink and some plumbing and a baby (wake me up when this storyline gets interesting) and some totally rad walking-through-wall action in a padded cell. cool. oh! and claire finds her fire-fingered mom. aka that one chick from boston public. remember that show? yeah, me neither.

24
was it just me or was this kind of a slow episode? a lot of exposition, not a lot of action. but i guess they can’t deploy suitcase nukes EVERY episode, can they? CAN THEY? !?!?

chad lowe made his first appearance in this hour, someone gets beat up in the school yard for stealing someone's cell phone, jack's brother? still an ass. a super big one. and that guy from ally mcbeal, could he BE more irritating?

and did i just DO a chandler?

ps. ricker? where art thou?


on that note, i'm off to watch studio 60. don't look for a recap. unless by "recap" you mean me typing like this: NFSYDF&EYR%&#(*GR&#GWESJFBDLJSFJDS... bleepS*^*&#WT&*G*&EGRIUFDblargh!KJFSAA*YFOAIUSFAl , .... sKJBFKJSBFSD... snorg.

(although i should mention that "hiro" makes a cute cameo on the show. totes gnar gnar.)

how to awesome up an already awesome day.

i stole this from the female football fan. i'm not ashamed.

Top 10 Ways to Throw A Super, Super Bowl Party

1) Have a TV viewing room and a socializing room (believe it or not, not everyone is there to watch the game) [ed. note: put the chicks in the kitchen and the dudes in the living room. as it should be. ps. i'm not serious about that]

2) Go all out on decorations, no such thing as too much! 4funparties.com is a great site for all things football [ed. note: sorry, i'm not a big enough dork to do this. a dork yes. but big enough? no.]

3) Serve food that’s appropriate to the time zone of the game. If you’re on the West Coast, the Super Bowl starts at 3 p.m., so there’s no need to worry about serving dinner. Just make sure that you have plenty of beer, soda, chips and more beer. [ed. note: AND CHICKEN WINGS FOR THE LOVE OF SWEET BABY JESUS!!]

If you’re on the East Coast, the Super Bowl starts at 6 p.m., so make sure you have more substantial fare or at least the number to the local pizza delivery place.

4) A football pool is a must (Click here to learn how to set one up) [ed. note: be sure to rig the pool so that the host wins. *ahem*]

5) The commercials can sometimes be more exciting than the game, so have a TV in the bathroom. Even if you wait for a timeout to go to the bathroom, you won’t want to miss the $2-to-$3 million-30 second commercials. [ed. note: so, so true]

6) Make sure you have comfortable couches and sitting areas. This is the one football game where (other than to eat and go to the bathroom) you won’t want to get up for three-plus hours. You don’t want to miss the football, the commercials or the halftime show -- it’s Prince this year! And, come on, who won’t admit that they’re kicking themselves for missing the wardrobe malfunction from three years ago? [ed. note: thank god for tivo, though. we like to take long pause breaks for the inevitable ping pong battle that will ensue.]

7) Place crunchy snacks away from the TV. There's nothing worse than hearing someone crunch carrots and celery in your ear while you’re trying to listen to the commentators. [ed. note: there's nothing more hilar than crunching carrots and celery in someone's ear while they are trying to "listen" to football]

8) Beware of the guest that shows up in the third quarter and is clearly not interested in the game. He or she is only interested in the party -- not the game -- and may stay at your house way too long. If this is the case, the end of the game should be the queue for your kids to start throwing a tantrum, or if you don’t have kids, perhaps enter into a heated and uncomfortable argument (try talking politics and make sure to take whatever side your guest is not on) [ed. note: just try telling the guest that you ate all the chicken wings and drank all the bear-garitas. works like a charm]

9) Serve food in abundance, but keep it simple. Remember you’re not catering for an intimate dinner party. This is football -- everything is big and bountiful [ed. note: the bigger the better the tighter the sweater. or, something]

10) Even if you’re serving mostly beer during the game, keep some Champagne available for after the last play. If your team wins, it will be fun and celebratory to pop the cork and toast your team's win. If they don’t win, you can always crack open the Champagne and toast to next season. [ed. note: we substitute "handles of hard alcohol" for "champagne" up in our homepiece. how we roll, yo]

i think that just about sums it up. and, if you weren't invited to our bash this year, don't fret. we just put names in a hat and only picked the ones of the people we like the most.

better luck next year.

dilemma!

before i moved from minneapolis to los angeles, i received a lot of advice. you know things like "don't forget the little people when you make it big," and "don't become a coke whore." stuff like that. but one of the most important pieces of advice i received was "start saying 'soda' instead of 'pop.'" really. extremely important. you obviously don't belong in LA if you say "pop." you may as well just go back to the farm or under the rock from which you came, you know? and forget about getting into skybar! i mean, seriously. (yes, i moved to LA that long ago.)

so i changed my terminology without looking back. i needed to fit in, and if i had to stop saying "pop," than "pop who?" it would be. i even took it to the other extreme so that if someone said "pop" in my presence, i would look down my nose at them and shake my head at their unfortunate lack of training.

i know, right? i'm pretty awesome.

so anyway, i came across this today and now i'm all sorts of confused. if this highly scientific research document says people who say "pop" are much, much cooler than those who say "soda," but if i say soda i won't get into, let's say, hyde... then WHAT? WHAT IS A GIRL TO DO?


answer: stop drinking carbonated beverages altogether. problem solved.

laters.

word.

gadabout \GAD-uh-bout\, noun:
Someone who roams about in search of amusement or social activity.


Your mom is such a gadabout, but i guess it takes one to know one.

I think part of the reason I'm such a gadabout is that I really suffer from FOBLO*. I'm seeking help though.







*Fear of Being Left Out.

1.28.2007

Little kid gets hit with basketball

so wrong it just ain't right.

kiefer just gets better and better.

Keifer Admits to Abusing Bauer Action Figure

i don't know if the source for this story is credible, but man, i sure hope so!

SAG = zzzzzzzzzzzz

it was a double-whammy of a night for steve carrell as "the office" and "little miss sunshine" both took home best ensemble awards in their respective categories. so, yay!






so that was good.

as for the rest of the awards? um, let's just say that was two hours of my life i'll never get back.


in related news, i was 5 for 13 with my picks. I KNOW, I'M AWESOME.


that's about it.

1,000

i broke 1,000 visits today.

only 999,000 visits more until i hit 1,000,000!

Screen Actors Guild Awards

My picks indicated with **

I’m too lazy to write any witty commentary. My picks are based in part on what i saw at the golden globes and in part just personal preference. *snore*


MOVIES
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond"; Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson"; **Peter O'Toole, "Venus"; Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness"; Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland."


Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Volver"; Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"; **Helen Mirren, "The Queen"; Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"; Kate Winslet, "Little Children."

Supporting actor: **Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine"; Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Departed"; Jackie Earle Haley, "Little Children"; Djimon Hounsou, "Blood Diamond"; Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls."

Supporting actress: Adriana Barraza, "Babel"; Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"; Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine"; **Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"; Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel."

Cast: "Babel," "Bobby," "The Departed," **"Dreamgirls," "Little Miss Sunshine."

TELEVISION

Actor in a movie or miniseries: Thomas Haden Church, "Broken Trail"; Robert Duvall, "Broken Trail"; **Jeremy Irons, "Elizabeth I"; William H. Macy, "Nightmares & Dreamscapes"; Matthew Perry, "The Ron Clark Story."

Actress in a movie or miniseries: **Annette Bening, "Mrs. Harris"; Shirley Jones, "Hidden Places"; Cloris Leachman, "Mrs. Harris"; Helen Mirren, "Elizabeth I"; Greta Scacchi, "Broken Trail."

Actor in a drama series: James Gandolfini, "The Sopranos"; **Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"; Hugh Laurie, "House"; James Spader, "Boston Legal"; Kiefer Sutherland, "24."

Actress in a drama series: Patricia Arquette, "Medium"; Edie Falco, "The Sopranos"; Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"; **Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"; Chandra Wilson, "Grey's Anatomy."

Actor in a comedy series: **Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"; Steve Carell, "The Office"; Jason Lee, "My Name Is Earl"; Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"; Tony Shalhoub, "Monk."

Actress in a comedy series:**America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty"; Felicity Huffman, "Desperate Housewives"; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"; Megan Mullally, "Will & Grace"; Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"; Jaime Pressly, "My Name Is Earl."

Drama series cast: **”24," "Boston Legal," "Deadwood," "Grey's Anatomy," "The Sopranos."

Comedy series cast: "Desperate Housewives," "Entourage," "The Office," **"Ugly Betty," "Weeds."

survivor audition: reject

here's why i decided to do a open casting call rather than sending in a video of my own.

1.25.2007

miscellany.

'Idol' Outshines State of the Union TV Week

Coverage of the president's State of the Union Address blanketed the 9 p.m. hour among all the major networks, while "American Idol" at 8 p.m. earned a higher rating than all four network airings of the Address combined.

remember that movie about how, like, a popstar got more votes than the president or something. totally implausible, right? right.







Will the Muppets finally return to primetime? TV Squad
A brand new pilot for a Muppet mini-series is being passed around Disney, a spoof on mockumentary series like The Office that has the Muppet gang getting back together to put on a new show after venturing off on their own to find new jobs.

i'm already setting my tivo season pass.



ANIMAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


'sall i got.

whaaaaat?

so while i was watching the latest episode of beauty & the geek, i decided to do an image search of nate because i wanted put a pic of him next to a quote of him saying "i'm as in shape as sour milk, because i'm white and chunky." right? because that's hilar. but as i was searching, i came across this!

um.


huh?

the prestigious awesome award goes to:

YOU! YOU! and, especially? YOU!

all of you adorable people who have left me notes on my myspace, opendiary or on this here BLARGH! in support of my little survivor project. thanks. no really, i mean it. THANK YOU!

~~

so it turns out my friend matt s might be a bit of a good luck charm. he's friends with aras, the sole survivor of season 12 AND! he is friends with tyler & james who just won the amazing race. perhaps my association with magical matt might just be the lucky break i've been looking for.

thanks matt, for you know, being you.

1.24.2007

survived.

we arrived at the morongo casino resort just after 9pm. after just under two hours on the road. we stopped at the gas station next door and stocked up on water and assorted munchies, because that's how we hotel roll, yo. as we walked up to the hotel entrance, i could feel a swell of excitement. i was like "i'm actually doing this? har!" as we were checking in, a lady was chatting with the concierge about "survivor auditions." of course, my ears immediately reconfigured themselves in the direction of said conversation. i heard "the line will be over there," and i looked in the direction of his outstretched arm and realized the line would be forming inside (yay) and that we would be staying directly above where the line would be forming (double yay!) we finished checking in and took the elevator to our 4th floor home base. not before aaron checked with the security guards to confirm the fitness center location. (gym rat ocd). the room was pretty sweet. we had a weird balcony thing where our window was nestled, maybe three feet off the ground. i jumped up on it and did a little "stage presentation" of my audition. aaron "appeared" to be impressed. this was probably the 18th time he had heard it, and i had finally incorporated his wise suggestions. I think this is where i finally actually nailed the line “you should pick me because, well, I’M AWESOME.” Followed by a HIGH KICK.



around 10:30p i decided to call downstairs to garner last-minute information and secure a wake-up call. the super nice lady informed me that people would likely be lining up at 5a for the 9a start of the auditions. i quickly interpreted that to mean i had to be UP at 4a to shower and get ready. yeah. good times. i sweetly asked her if she would ever give me an earlier wake up call if she noticed people getting in line earlier than that. she sweetly agreed. nice! so after rehearsing my little spiel a few more times, i was like dude, lights out.



But, you know when you have nervous hyper anxiety and “lights out” means sitting there in anxious anticipation so that even the slightest movement from your partner or the faintest noise keeps you awake in the dark? Or, maybe it could have been the fact that we didn’t know wtf we were doing with the hotel alarm clock and it kept going off every 15 minutes and we/he couldn’t figure out how the hell to make it stop so i had to sweetly ask aaron to “rip the damn thing out of the wall!” so then! I had to get nervous about the fact that if my wake up call didn’t come for some reason, and then if phone alarm didn’t work then what, THEN WHAT? and then there was the fact that i woke up like clockwork every hour on the hour, checking my phone because the damn alarm clock was yanked out of the wall and then sighing with relief and the falling back asleep only to wake up again approximately 60 minutes later.

:sigh:



So! Promptly at 4a the phone rings and it’s Chalandra or some such name and she says, it’s time to wake up, sweetie. Maybe she didn’t say sweetie. Anyway. I groaned, and then! I realized why i was waking up at the ass criggety crack of dawn and then sprinted, i tell you SPRINTED to the shower. Adrenaline started pumping immediately and my shower experience took on a whole life as i whispered my passionate spiel into the head of the shower. BECAUSE I’M AWESOME! I said again, with conviction. But i didn’t do a HIGH KICK. Not in the shower.

Don’t be crazy.



Ok, i know this is getting squidiculous. So cut to the point!



Shortly after 5a, i was on my way. I walked around the corner where the line was supposed to start, expecting to see a slithering line of crazy people, but all i saw was a 14 normal looking, but extremely tired people chillin. Just chillin. I was like (duh) is this the SURVIVOR line? YES, captain obvious, it is. So i took my place behind Carol & Carl and settled in. laptop? Check. Double dose of sugar-free red bull? Check. People and Life & Style magazines? Application form? Printed out speech? Check check check.



we did a round of introductions and topline stories of why we were there and blahblahblah. Shortly after i arrived, brad arrived and settled in behind me. he was the best. His story was so spot on that i was ready to just throw in the towel. But then he said, “when i walked down and saw you i was like “yeah, she totally fits the bill.” I think that was probably one of the most rewarding compliments ever. So, GRIN. Anyway, his story was this: about to turn 30, used to be 400 lbs., now weighs 220. has a wife he’s known since he was 18, just had a little baby, teaches PE and biology to at-risk youth, knows how to spear fish, was captain of his football team, has a great sense of humor and has a dog named “rupert” named after the survior contestant with the same name.



fantastic!



But seriously, four hours in line FLEW by and before we knew it, we were being ushered up an escalator into a large ballroom and were placed in chairs in the order we were in line. (at this point in time, i'm not going to lie, i was SHAKING with nervous excitement) there was a little info session about how the audition process would work and then i RAN to the bathroom, got all my nervous energy and/or pee out and then returned to my spot just as they were calling my row. i felt like i was on speed. my heart was racing, my blood was pumping, my face was flush.



dang.



i calmly submitted my application, and then got assigned to “camera #1.” before i knew it they were “ready for me.” I stood on my mark with my “camera 1, person 5” sign and then had two minutes to tell the camera why i should be on survivor.



[insert blank here]



I think i did good, but honestly, i dont totally remember what i said. I definitely nailed the I’M AWESOME line, but i didn’t do a HIGH KICK. That might have been a mistake. remains to be seen. anyway, now i get to wait until march to find out if i make the cut (800 people will be called back).



And there you have it.




morongo: night view



"the line"



me, post-audition.


"i'm awesome"



aaron was such a good sport!!



bye bye morongo!



i'm effing tired, what!? you wanna mess?





Digg!

word of the day

boston mike gave me this book for my birthday one year:

i know! awesome of him! anyway, it was a fabulous book except, like all books, it eventually ended. in the spirit of continued education, i thought i'd start feeding words of the day from one of my favorite sites in the universe, www.dictionary.com.

and so here goes the first in what i am hoping will be an ongoing enrichment of all our collective sponge-brains.

inscrutable \in-SKROO-tuh-buhl\, adjective:

difficult to fathom or understand; difficult to be explained or accounted for satisfactorily; obscure; incomprehensible; impenetrable.

britney spears' inscrutable actions over the past few months have had people scratching their heads and rolling their eyes.

but worse than spears' actions is the inscrutable decision of tabloid and gossip providers to keep reporting on her trashiness. moreso, the scrutable result has been people vomiting in their mouths, a little. and by "people," i mean, "me."

see side panel for daily "word of the day" link.



1.23.2007

don't blink.

sweet baby jesus! a lot happened in the past 24 hours... ummm. let’s review quickly:
  1. prison break premiere
  2. heroes premiere
  3. new 24 ‘sode
  4. oscar noms revealed
  5. my survivor audition

right? super big time.


ok, so. the fox monday night line-up is officially: pretty intense. prison break is back and things are crazier than ever... it’s almost come to the point where i can barely get through an hour without making fun of some implausible plot point, but at the same time, i’m kind of loving all the craziness as well. the highlight of the new episode was seeing kim realize he just got double-crossed. yeah big boy whatchu gonna do now? what what!? i can't wait to see how the bros get out of the latest snafu. those poor unlucky bastards.

24 was, as always, an thrill-ride of awesomeness. i don’t remember that bald dude from ER (paul mccrane) being jack’s brother? is that new information or was i drunk when that information was revealed on a previous season? (i’m guessing: yes) anyhow! i was so happy when jack bitch-slapped his bald a**. that’s what i’m talking about. it might be time for graham. to. die.


um, in the category of "am i seeing double" ... how is it possible for rena sofer to play graham’s wife on 24 whilst playing nathan petrelli’s wife on heroes? Isn’t that, like, a huge conflict of interest? or? Is it one of the awesomest double features EVER?


I am leaning towards the latter.

whaaaaaaaaaaa?

<<>> <<>>



also noticeable this week on 24: a severe lack of THE RICKER. Hello. Can i please get some ricker up in this mo’?



moving along.

heroes was spectacular. i love the intro of the new hero with a super awesome new ability: INVISIBILITY! loves it. i just can't get enough of this show. every week a whole new can of worms is opened and you never know what is going to happen next. whew.


i'm muy pleased to see little miss sunshine getting some serious oscar nods. i'll likely write a separate post on the oscar stuff, inlcuding my notorious picks which will, most likley, be more wrong than right. yeah. you can pretty much put money on anything i DON'T pick and you're guaranteed: a fat win.


whatevs. just because i'm smarter than the hollywood foreign press AND the academy doesn't mean you have to be jealous of me.


finally! i know you're all dying to know all about the survivor audition process. look for a separate post on this as well. if you're lucky, there just might be come pics and videos involved. JUSTSAYIN'.

and... done.

i survived my survivor audition! hooray!

here are the highlights of the day:

  • woke up at 4a to get ready and be in line by 5a (per recommendation of hotel staff)
  • secured place #15 in line
  • traded the guy behind me (brad) one sugar free red bull for eye drops
  • auditioned 5th for camera #1 (there were 3 cameras)
  • don't really remember what i said
  • was done and done by 9:13a (auditions started at 9a)

so tired i don't even know what my name is.

now i have to wait until march to see if i get to the second round where they "narrow" it down to 800.

:sigh:

1.22.2007

coachella deets.



waa waa weee waaaaaaa

rage me silly!

the rumors are TRUE!



rage will reunite!

"Organizers of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival have announced the bulk of this year's line-up, and formerly-disbanded politico-hard rockers Rage Against the Machine will be one of the festival's headlining acts. RATM, who split in 2000, will play alongside other confirmed headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers and Icelandic chanteuse Bjork April 27-29 at Indio, CA's Empire Polo Field. The Arcade Fire, Interpol, Air, the Happy Mondays, Rufus Wainwright, and the Decemberists are among the biggest acts confirmed. for [more].

one of my fondest college memories was the RATM concert at the target center in minneapolis my senior year. not only was it one of my first concerts where i was actually drinking age, but come on, RAGE in the flesh? it really doesn't much more hardcore than that. i vividly remember standing on the edge of the mosh pit while aaron got his mosh on, and then suddenly i noticed MY BROTHER jumping over the 2nd floor balcony and getting swallowed up in the mosh madness. it was surreal. i didn't even know he was going to be there. luckily, all parties emerged alive and intact. i had the distinct honor of being the beer b*tch for not only aaron, but for my brother and assorted underage friends that miraculously kept finding me in the middle of all sorts of craziness.
yeah i contributed to minor drinking. what?


anyway! i loves me some RATM, can't wait to see zach back in action.


coachella me?!


thanks to jason m for the hot tip.

Super Bowl Shuffle

oh, god. so freaking awesome.

anticipation builds

rockinraquel said...
well, a new heroes episode is on tonite. can't wait!

i couldn't agree with you more, rockinraquel! not only is it a heroes AND prison break premiere night, it's also another adrenaline-infused episode of 24.

kiefer & wentworth step out over the weekend at the Fox All-Star Winter TCA Press Tour PARTY:




HOWEVER! due to a slight lack of foresight, it's very likely i will be on the road en route to the hotel where survivor auditions are taking place tomorrow. d'oh! obviously i will be tivo-ing everything, but i might not get to watch everything until *gasp* tomorrow.

SPEAKING of survivor ... less than 24 hours to go until i have my big audition. *gulp*

i'm totes pumped. let's review the checklist:
  1. ask for "personal day" on tuesday, 1/23 [check]
  2. book room at hotel where survivor open casting call is taking place [check]
  3. fill out 17-page application [done]
  4. develop and rehearse 2-minute spiel [done]
  5. purchase mass quantities of sugar-free red bull [done]
  6. arrive at hotel evening prior to casting a secure place in line [to do]
  7. wow the shizz out of the casting people [to do]
  8. wait ...[to do]



mmmmm. yes.

1.21.2007

ps/

um so... don't be shy. feel free to like, leave comments. momma likes comments.

uh, duh

this just in:

people like football

CQ = Bust

this just in: my cuteness quotient formula is offically worthless.

it's like someone just told me there ISN'T a santa claus.

i'm crushed.

And your CQ football picks were 0 for 2. Will that teach you to root for people based on looks? ;-)
[Jim is Already There]

yeah, no. sorry jim. i'm still as shallow as ever.

anyway, it's gonna be a bears/colts showdown.

put your manning faces on, cuz, manning it's ON!



nothing better than snow-encrusted playoff football game!




get ready for a new superbowl shuffle!





loves it.


'grats to all you bears & colts fans. i know you've been waiting forever for this. may the best team win!! (i.e. cutest)

1.20.2007

1.19.2007

just some finds.

some interesting "finds" from found


FOUND by Vindy in Austin, Texas

*is suddenly hungry for soy rizo*


FOUND by Melinda Harvey
My mail carrier left this note on the back of an envelope in my mailbox. I haven't been able to locate his head anywhere in the neighborhood.



FOUND by Bennion
Found in my daughter's backpack

so great!


the end.

the plan

  1. ask for "personal day" on tuesday, 1/23 [check]
  2. book room at hotel where survivor open casting call is taking place [check]
  3. fill out 17-page application [in progress]
  4. develop and rehearse 2-minute spiel [in progress]
  5. purchase mass quantities of sugar-free red bull [to do]
  6. arrive at hotel evening prior to casting a secure place in line [to do]
  7. wow the shizz out of the casting people [to do]
  8. wait [to do]

scrubs - the musical

a tasty little morsel of fun for your friday morning enjoyment.

(from last night's episode of scrubs. so great.)

guest blargh!

the last post was from my first guest blargher! c-kat from canada. good stuff!

if you're interested in guest blarging, please drop me a line at ruebe33@gmail.com

Things that make me go Hmm…

So, it’s that time of year now where people start to go suspiciously missing from my office…..suddenly their kids have got viruses, significant others need to undergo a test or suffer through a tooth extraction. Why does this all happen at the same time? I’ll tell you. It’s because of the way our family related leave is structured and management still hasn’t put two and two together. Yesterday my boss said with a puzzled look, “It’s so strange that so many people have emergencies at once, come to think of it….it happened at this time last year too.” And she wasn’t being sarcastic.

In March, at my office anyway, our fiscal year ends and any unused family related leave balance follows the ‘you snooze, you loose’ rules, disappearing from our account. This equates to lots and lots of people playing hooky, and who can blame them, time is our most precious commodity, who could stand to just watch it evaporate into thin air? No one leaves it till the last week of March that would be way too obvious, so they begin taking a day here and there starting in January. Why not let people roll unused time over, seems like a no brainer to me, but I am just a mere peon so what do I know?

So, today at work, of my team of 10, only 2 were in. I am sure, given the recent snow fall that if I drove up to the closest ski hill, I would find them all racing down one of the black diamonds. If I was smart, I’d join them, but sadly I have no leave left. **sniff, sniff**

************

First, you have to realize I live in Canada, where we have pretty harsh, snow filled winters. Last year, it coincidently snowed every time my husband went away on business, so it was just me and the dog out there every night after work, me shoveling my heart out and she, well, hasn’t exactly mastered the art of shoveling, but is great at keeping me company while she dives into the snow banks.

This year, I said, no more! Let’s hire a service to plow our driveway. Well at first, the laugh was on us. We had no snow in December or the 1st week of January, in fact it was the mildest winter we have had in years. So we got a kick out of imagining the snow plow drivers, making a pretty buck, while sitting on a beach in Mexico drinking margaritas.

Then last week a storm hit, and there was a mountain full of snow in our driveway. The snow plowers would finally be put to the test and guess what? They failed. When we called asking why we had to dig ourselves out of the driveway, and back in again, we were told they weren’t prepared for the snow. See I was under the impression that a snow removal service actually removes snow. Go figure.

Maybe my image of them sitting on a beach in Mexico wasn’t so off the mark. Maybe next year I should try to teach my dog to shovel snow…ok the image that brings to mind I just too funny. Just another thing that makes me go Hmmm…..

1.18.2007

beauty & the chic

last night was the highly anticipated "pimp my geek" episode. it featured jaw-dropping transformations and possibly the most awkward product placement ever. but enough with the blahblahblah. let's see the transformed "chics."














more where those came from here

scooter and nate looked the most chic, but niels gets strong points in the category of "awesome" and his theme song (tra la la ding ding dong by gunther) made me laugh so hard i thought i was going to hurt myself.

excellent episode. fantastic season so far.

4/24

i finally finished watching the end of the 4-hour season premiere of 24. and, well, there really are no words to describe how it ended on monday night. i haven’t purposely been avoiding this discussion, i just really can’t do it justice.

wow. right?

i know, i'm deep.

anyway, just some general thoughts

what i’m loving:

chloe & milo’s dysfunctional dynamic
jack’s downward spiral
assad (not sure why)

what is/was driving me crazy:
the annoying dude from ally mcbeal
the glaring lack of rick schroeder thus far
ah-med. (can i say how happy i am that he's dead?)

this show is insane. i can't wait to see what happens next...

road rules sneak

just a pic from the road rules launch special, courtesy of veronica's college dropout myspace




if you simply MUST have the shirts veronica & shane are wearing, you can go get 'em here: CLICK

yeah, so, i guess veronica & rachel make shirts now? or something?

stay tuned for the big preview show coming up on 1/23 at 9p on, of course, MTV

giddy-up.

1.17.2007

damnit.

against my better judgement, i found myself standing at the vending machine in the office kitchen eyeing various salt-laden delectables. i had a moment of clarity when i told myself: don't get the cheetos, you will regret it. instead myself found myself hitting the code for the sour cream and onion baked lays. i know? boring, right? i just wanted a salty distraction to get me through a particularly challenging project i'm currently working on.

but.

guess what.


the baked lays did not fall.

nay. instead, they are precariously perched on the edge of the coil, hanging on to the other baked lays for dear life. i gave the vending machine a half-assed shove and murmured some choice words under my breath. i stared at the baked lays, willing them to fall so i could nosh on their crunchy little speckled bodies. and then, well, i threw my hands in the air and declared victory on the side of el machino vendingo.

damn you machine. i'll get you yet.

minne, you hurt me.

my sister (who lives in minnesota) just reminded me that AI was on last night, and wondered if i watched it. i have to say that i was trying to supress the memory of it and forget it ever happened.

initially, i was all kinds of excited to see the auditions ramping up in lovely minneapolis. I had high hopes that my minne people would do me proud. in fact, i was even wondering to myself how i would celebrate when the first american idol winner from my hometown was announced.

alas, it was not to be so. instead, it was a train wreck of a show that had me scratching my head and flinching in my seat. I know there’s talent in minneapolis. but seriously, where the hell was it?


read this for a better synopsis then i could ever provide: AI recaplet

tag.

i've been tagged by maddy and i am going to be a good sport and play along. i have to list five things that you don't know about me. are you ready for this?

1. today i actually turned on my car and started to pull out of the gas station before i realized that the pump itself was still in the car and it was STILL PUMPING GAS

2. directly after that, i slammed the sugar free red bull that i had just purchased in the station, you know, to kill time WHILE I WAITED FOR THE GAS TO PUMP

3. i'm pretty sure that this act of ridiculousness makes me certifiably insane. couple this with another interesting fact about me - i once contemplated putting some delicious fattening food items in my mouth just to get "the taste of it" and then spitting it out so i wouldn't actually have to deal with the calorie intake. it almost worked but then the food items tricked me into chewing & swallowing them. damn you, delicious fattening food items. damn you to hell.

4. yesterday, whilst watching the remaining hour of 24, aaron asked me if i knew what was going to happen based on talking to people "around the water cooler." i said no. but actually, i DID jump online before i watched it and read the spoilers on someone's blog. so technically, i didn't find out "around the water cooler." i realized i might be stretching the truth, so i immediately 'fessed up. he laughed at me and shook his head. but seriously, who even says "around the water cooler" anymore?

5. today i'm wearing a daisy fuentes designed shirt that i picked up at kohl's while i was in minnesota over the holidays for like, $19. who ever even KNEW daisy fuentes had a line of clothing at kohl's? not i, that's who. i'm not really sure why i'm telling you this.

i guess i have to tag five more people, but i don't think i know that many people with "blogs" that will actually do this. oh well. here goes nothing.

terra
ben
teresa
not kat
onekyh

haha. this should be interesting.

1.16.2007

2007 nfl playoff predictions: NFC

{!!!read previous post first!!}
chicago bears


QB: here’s what limited information i have in my brain about rex grossman. In 2004 or so, he was hailed as the savior of the bears. i remember this because my old boss was a bears fan and she was all sorts of cocky about it. anyway, then he got injured, like, before the season started? or maybe right as it started. either way, he was out the whole season. then he broke his ankle in a 2005 pre-season game, so then he was out most of that season. so now that he’s finally played a whole season, he’s led the bears to some solid success. so... let’s see... not so cute, questionable talent (a lot of luck) and shaky marketability.

QB CQ: .5 (5) + .25 (4) + .25 (7) = 5.25



LB: even though i technically have to hate the bears because they are one of minnesota’s biggest rivals, i have mad respect and admiration for urlacher. just a plain & simple badass. how can you not love him? according to wiki, urlacher’s jersey sales have rivaled those of other NFL icons, such as vick & favre. there’s been some talk about him being overrated, but no one can really dispute his all american good looks & charm. so there.

LB CQ: .5 (8) + .25 (8) + .25 (8) = 8

TOTAL BEARS CQ: 5.9
new orleans saints



QB: i have to admit that i had to consult with my resident football expert on matters of drew brees’ talent. aaron’s giving him a solid 9, right on par with bush, brady & manning. so because he says so, then it is so. aaron wouldn't comment on brees' "cuteness, however. psssh. so, based on my expert opinion, looks & marketability are both a little better than average.

QB CQ: .5 (7) + .25 (7) + .25 (9) = 7.5




RB: most people know that reggie bush was a first round pick for the saints in 2006. before the draft even commenced, he signed a multiyear deal with adidas and is considered 3nd to manning and brady in the category of “marketability” (according to sports business daily). he’s got the USC alum thing going for him, which works really well in this particular part of the world. he's got some crazy mad skillz and he’s a good-looking cat to boot. holla reggie!


RB CQ: .5 (9) + .25 (9) +.25 (9) = 9.0


TOTAL SAINTS CQ: 7.9

summary:

  • bears CQ: 5.9
  • saints CQ: 7.9

based on CQ scores, i'm giving the NFC win to the good ol' saints.

2007 nfl playoff predictions: AFC

so most of my football "viewing" this past weekend happened while we were going to and from palm springs. we listened to two of the four games on the radio while sitting in traffic on the the damn 10. it made me realize how important the visual aspect of the game is. you know, in case i didn't already know that. cuz, if you're like me, and i'm sure a lot of you are, you like to pick your favorite players based on how "cute" they are. am i right? right. so in light of the absence of the vikings in the playoffs, and instead of making my picks for the championship games based on any sort of real logic, i'm going to make my picks based on "cuteness quotients." the cuteness quotient (aka CQ) is a highly complex equation based on selecting two key players (QB, RB, etc.) and then comparing their looks, charm/marketability and, of course, talent.


i know you’re dying to know the formula, so here goes:
CQ = {( (.75QB (.5l+.25c+.25t) ) + (.25O (.5l+.25c+.25t) )
warning: formulas may be fraught with ill-logic.

ya dig?

COLTS vs. PATRIOTS
indianapolis colts.


QB: peyton manning is not what i'd call the best-looking guy in the universe. but as far as QBs go, he's not half-bad in the looks dept. and, furthermore, he gets high points in the "personality" department. he is an undeniable force when it comes to endorsements ga-lore. he's got a nice mix of cocky-meets-modest with an added bonus of charming flair. oh, and he's a pretty decent QB as well.
QB score: .5 (6) + .25 (9) + .25 (9) = 7.5


K: adam vinatieri is pretty cute, for a kicker. he’s scored in each of his past 19 playoff games, which ties george blanda's NFL record. not sure who the hell george blanda is, but i’m sure that’s definitely something. adam has earned the nicknames "automatic adam" for his accuracy, and "iceman" for his incredible poise under pressure (according to wiki). i had him on my fantasy team a few years ago. i was pretty brilliant for making that choice. if i do say so myself. and i do. say so myself. ps/ he is also a third cousin to evel knieval. brilliant.

K Score: .5 (8) + .25 (6) + .25 (9) = 7.75

TOTAL COLTS’ CQ SCORE [.75 (7.5)]+ [.25 (7.75)]=7.6


~~

new england patriots



QB: tom brady is pretty amazing. i think everyone can agree that not only is he probably the best looking QB in the history of QBs, but he’s also got a shit-ton of talent AND endorsement deals. not that i’m saying any of these things are mutually exclusive. i think talent begets endorsements intrinsically, but good looks can certainly up the ante. he dates supermodels (we won’t talk about tara reid. everyone makes horrendous mistakes once in awhile, don’t they?) so, my point is, tom brady is the bizzomb.

QB score: .5 (9) + .25 (9) + .25 (9) = 9.0



LB: not that brady needed much help, but tedy bruschi brings up the CQ of the patriots quite nicely. not only is he talented, but he is a nice-looking chap as well. my better half quips that he’s “a bit of a blockhead” but he also admires his tenacity in getting over that whole “stroke” thing a few years back. wiki reveals the bruschi plays the saxophone and was part of the boston pops. either those facts make tedy super awesome or.... maybe i just don’t know what to do with that information. i wish i didn’t read wiki all the goddamn time. *erases memory of boston pops from brain*

LB score: .5 (8) + .25 (7) + .25 (7) = 7.5


TOTAL PATRIOTS’ CQ SCORE [.75 (9.0)] + [.25 (7.5)] = 8.6

in summary:

  • COLTS CQ – 7.6
  • PATS CQ – 8.6
based on CQ scores, i will have to go with the patriots for the big win on sunday. makes total and complete sense, right?




tomorrow: saints vs. bears

i'm addicted to my tivo.

i watched more tv this weekend then i'd like to admit. but in the spirit of sharing, i'm going to spill the beans.

here's my list:

- the hills
- high maintenance 90210
- the apprentice
- i love new york
- 3 of the 4 hours of 24
- the entire golden globes red carpet show on e!
- the golden globes
- road rules/real world challenge: the duel
- saturday night live

to be fair, about 2 hours of tv was consumed while working out at the gym. but still. that's a damn lot of tv.

in addition, i spent hours at an all-you-can-eat sushi joint in the valley, a day and a half in palm springs, a few hours viewing pan's labyrinth, and i cleaned the house and ran 800 errands. did i sleep? no, not so much.

best scene of 24's sunday night premiere

warning: very graphic

1.15.2007

i guess i suck.

um.

so.


i, apparently, kind of SUCK at predicting winners.

i was uhhhhhhhh, like, 5 for 800.


where i went right:


alec baldwin, 30 rock. (so bloody awesome. alec. you make me laff.)
america ferrera, ugly betty. (ugly is as ugly does. good stuff)
martin scorsese, the departed. (holla.)
sacha baron cohen, borat. (yes. i am awesome for picking this. thanks)
forest whitaker, last king of scotland. ( i can thank aaron for this pick)


i had a few favorite moments:

when meryl streep requested action in terms of getting the good movies in the theatres
ugly betty's acceptance speech
sacha baron cohen. awesome.

and. um. after all that. i started to watch 24.

thoughts, for sure, to come.

globe arrivals: miscellany mentions


chloe from "24." what would 24 be without her? chloeless is what.

< click

i just love me some gyllenhaals. maggie looks great. and her better half looks so happy to be her baby's daddy. aw. aw. aw.

< click

"pam" from the office! breaks my heart. i goddamn love her (and her with jim).



drew. sweet, lovely drew. lookin fab tonight. you go, you.

globe arrivals: the boyz, the boyz!

love tha boyz! here are my flav-orites.



m. wahl. so, so good in the departed. mad love for the wahlbergs.


kiefer rocks my face off in, like, eight different life categories. aw.
go jack bauer, go.

i'll always appreciate mr. pitt.
hollywood, personified.

gotta love good actors named "aaron." and i do. oh, i do.