Category Archives: pop culture

youtube clip of today: julia dales.

OH. MY. GOD.

Whatever competition this girl is trying to win, I hope she wins it.

Question:  How on earth do you realize you have that talent?!

[Posted by Kathleen]

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Filed under blogging, celebrities, music, pop culture, random, the arts, weird, YouTube

meaty business cards for carnivorous people.

Let me preface this by saying this was passed on to me by one of the manliest men I know.  RAWR!  Okay, now we can begin.

Meat lovers, rejoice!  Now you can integrate your carnivorous ways into the business world.  How, you ask?  BUSINESS CARDS MADE OUT OF BEEF JERKY.

I’m not making that up.

Here is a picture from their Web site, www.meatcards.com:

meatcardsHilarious and brilliant!  Here’s more from the Web site:

Screw die-cutting. Forget about foil, popups, or UV spot lamination. THESE business cards have two ingredients:
MEAT AND LASERS.

Unlike other business cards, MEAT CARDS will retain value after the econopocalypse. Hoard and barter your calorie-rich, life-sustaining cards.

MEAT CARDS do not fit in a Rolodex, because their deliciousness CANNOT BE CONTAINED in a Rolodex.

Now if only they could make business cards out of bacon…

[Posted by Kathleen]

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Filed under blogging, definitely not politics, food, humor, news, pop culture, random, thoughts, weird

the guy next door’s the winner!

I have a tendency to get emotionally invested in a competition very, very quickly. I can ask my dad who to root for in a college football game, and by the end I’m crying when the quarterback runs over to hug his mother. I can be watching Dancing With the Stars in French and by the end I’m giddy (and also probably crying) because the cute girl I liked won. I can also not see a single episode of American Idol but still, inexplicably, watch and care about the finale.  

I forced my poor friend Jill to watch the singing part of the finale with me two nights ago. (In my slight defense, she DVR-ed it so we fast-forwarded through the cheesy parts or any moment where Ryan Seacrest talked.) Now that Adam guy has a set of pipes, and I was totally impressed by him, despite the creeptastic trench coat and smoke. But Kris Allen won me over. It’s a well-publicized fact that my favorite genre of music is Boys Playing Guitars, and he fits the bill perfectly. He’s  just so earnest! And he plays instruments! And he has a cute wife! And anyone else think he sounds a lot like Adam Levine when he’s singing? He also gets an adorable smashed and crooked face when he sings — like John Mayer, but more endearing.

The point is, I teared up any time they showed Kris’s adorable family, then I realized that I would actually buy his CD (as long as “No Boundaries” isn’t on it, good GOD), so I was compelled to vote for him. That’s right, I totally texted in my vote. And he won! HOORAH!

I didn’t watch the results part of the finale, but this picture, courtesy of the NYT, is perfect:

kris allen

Here’s hoping he doesn’t get famous and starting banging random groupies.

[Posted by Mallory]

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Filed under celebrities, crushes, definitely not politics, music, pop culture, TV

tuesday roundup of interesting nytimes articles.

Some days, the New York Times seems particularly stacked with good articles. It could just be that those are the days I actually focus and read the articles (rather than just skimming the headlines), but for whatever reason, today was a good day. In no particular order, and with quite a range of topics, enjoy:

  • I haven’t been watching American Idol much this season, but according to Stephen Holden, we’ve got an interesting finale on our hands: sweet — if slightly boring — Southern dude versus androgynous L.A. dude. I might actually have to tune in tonight. Holden convinced me that along with being something of a godsend for Idol’s ratings, the matchup will make for some very watchable teevee. Better than the forgettable Davids of last year.
  • Speaking of Davids, according to David Brooks and a study called “Which C.E.O. Characteristics and Abilities Matter?”, warm and fun and friendly people are less likely to be C.E.O.’s. Basically, “warm, flexible, team-oriented and empathetic people are less likely to thrive as C.E.O.’s. Organized, dogged, anal-retentive and slightly boring people are more likely to thrive.” Of course, those sets of qualities can’t be mutually exclusive, but the study makes a point. Boring people of the world: aim high. Fun ones: go into politics.
  • What do our college degrees and cell phones say about us? According to this John Tierney article, they can potentially say a lot — and most of us like to believe they say a lot, which is why we aim for Ivy Leagues and iPhones — but it only matters if other people are paying attention. In other words, “A Harvard diploma might get you a date or a job interview, but what you say during the date or the conversation will make the difference. An elegantly thin Skagen watch might send a signal to a stranger at a cocktail party or in an airport lounge, but even if it were noticed, anyone who talked to you for just a few minutes would get a much better gauge of your intelligence and personality.”
  • I found this reflective piece by Dana Jennings to be quite thought-provoking. In it, he recounts three major hospital visits in his lifetime: one at the age of 12, one at the age of 27, and one just last year, at the age of 51. All of the visits were relatively serious and had the potential to be life-threatening, but the way he reacted to the hospital stays predictably changed a lot over the years. As he puts it, “When I was young and ill, all I cared about was the result, about scalpels and scars. But in this waltz with prostate cancer, I’ve cared about the process, too. All along, I’ve wanted to know what this cancer could teach me, and I’d like to think I gripped it just as hard as it has gripped me.”

[Posted by Mallory]

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youtube clip of today: t-mobile dance.

The geniuses at T-Mobile must be staring into my soul.  They must know me, because I am obsessed with their viral video campaign and have dreamed each one of these scenarios.  First, I posted the “Hey Jude” video, where thousands of people were singing together.  Now, this one, with people dancing in a train station.  Why doesn’t this happen where I live?!

[Posted by Kathleen]

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the inexplicable appeal of rock band.

So, I haven’t been posting on account of the fact that I’ve been writing 1,000 pages of final papers instead. I know that I should be getting back into the meaty posts about celebrities and strange news stories, but for now, I need to make a very important statement/pose a very important question:

What on EARTH is the appeal of Rock Band? I get that you love it, and that your roommates love it, and that you sometimes play it for days at a time. But why, why, WHY is it fun to sit around playing fake instruments badly and listening to someone sing badly? I’ve never liked Rock Band, and I’ve never gotten the point, and tonight I brought this fact up in a house of four boys who were playing Rock Band. They were all “Ohmygod just wait we’ll convince you.” And then for ten minutes I’ll never get back, I listened to fake music and watched cartoon singers on a screen while four boys played fake instruments. Give me wine and a Pandora station any day. 

[Posted by Mallory]

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tyler frost gets suspended for dancing.

tylerfrostOf all the ridiculous things I’ve read today, this trumps them all.

Poor Tyler Frost.  All the senior in high school wanted to do was escort his lady love to her sinful, pagan public school prom and maybe move in sync to the musical stylings of Taylor Swift, and whatever Godless slow-jam-last-dance song those high school kids are listening to these days.  And his school suspended him.

That’s because Tyler’s school, Heritage Christian School in Ohio, forbids dancing, rock music, and fun.  IT’S JUST LIKE THE MOVIE FOOTLOOSE!  It doesn’t specifically say fun, but whatev.  Might as well.  But you know, there are other reasons as well.  Here is part of the statement from the school’s principal, Tim England:

In the Old Testament, Joseph was in a place of temptation and he fled. Unlike this situation, he didn’t put himself in that place. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.” II Timothy 2:22 says, “Flee also youthful lusts but follow after righteousness faith charity and peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” When the school committee, many years before I became the principal, set up the policy regarding dancing, I am confident that they had the principle of fleeing lustful situations in mind. The question as I see it is, should a Christian place themselves at an event where young ladies will have low cut dresses and be dancing in them? Isn’t it contrary to the example of Joseph and the verses that I stated?

I did some research and came across Friendlyatheist.com, which fights Bible fire with Bible fire.  Thanks for providing us with the verse, FriendlyAtheist!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 (King James Version)

1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

All sassiness aside, I think there’s something deeper here.  Dance, whether Mr. England chooses to acknowledge it or not, is embedded in the history of humanity.  As cliche as it is, people use dance to express themselves.  People dance at weddings– Christian weddings– to celebrate and show joy.  Little children dance (read= jump up and down and wave their arms) when they’re happy, and they just don’t know why.  In fact, there’s a budding genre of dance called Liturgical dance.  It’s a prayer in the form of dance.  Some people find dance so beautiful and spiritual that they use it as a way to praise the Lord.

Taking away dance is denying an important act of humanity.  Not that I, nor anyone else, should speak for the big guy upstairs, but I don’t think punishing someone for being human is what was intended.

Tyler and his stepfather, Stephan Johnson, went on CBS’ “The Early Show” this morning.  Watch that.  He said he doesn’t regret going to the prom.  I sure hope not.  I hope that he is allowed to walk at his graduation this year.  And when he does, I hope he dances on stage.

And now, a song that I dedicate to dear Tyler. I hope you dance, dude.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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Filed under blogging, dance, family, music, news, politics, pop culture, random, religion, sex

things i should have posted earlier.

Yeah yeah yeah.  I know.  I could have posted it this weekend (or yesterday), but nerd statistics show that nobody reads the blog on the weekend anyway, proving that you all use this while you are being paid by your unsuspecting employers. I love it!

SNL had a really good weekend.  Another JT/Andy Samberg song.  Oh girl, I love me some JT.   And Samberg.  RAWR.  If you like “Dick in a Box”, you’ll like this one too:

[clearspring_widget title=”SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE – Digital Short: Motherlover” wid=”4727a250e66f9723″ pid=”4a096ba17ff67505″ width=”384″ height=”283″ domain=”widgets.nbc.com”]

So that’s what your coworker is singing that you had no idea about.  A big SWTCTW you’re welcome!  What a beautiful ode to Mother’s Day.  Oddly enough though, I won’t be showing that to my mom.

That was funny, now let’s get political and funny.  In case you didn’t know, we have the greatest most bestest president in the entire world!  He is hilarious!  Here is his speech at the annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner:

The best joke in here is a little inside, I know!  It’s the one he makes about John Boehner (pronounced like BAINER, not BONER) being a person of color.  John Boehner, the House Minority leader, has skin that particular shade of orange that only comes from fake tanning.  See?

He’s even oranger in person, if oranger is a word.

Wanda Sykes was also REALLY funny, but I can’t do all the work for you, so you need to look that up yourself.

I’m off to stalk the news and find funny stuff to post!  You know you love me.  XOXO, i forgot to blog this weekend girl.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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Filed under blogging, celebrities, crushes, history, humor, music, news, politics, pop culture, post-college depression, random, sex, the arts, the hill, thoughts, TV, Uncategorized, YouTube

on the pure genius of tfln.

Case in point:

(305): Imagine two people making love on top of a unicorn . . . my life is the opposite of that.

That REALLY is my life right now. FML, etc. etc. 

A sincere thank you to whoever invented Texts From Last Night. Nothing makes you feel better about a bad day than some stranger who had a worse night. Happy Friday, readers! Hope you rack up lots of potential TFLN submissions this weekend.

[Posted by Mallory]

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Filed under adventures, humor, pop culture, post-college depression

youtube clip of today: rap chop.

Remember Vince Offer?  The ShamWow! hooker puncher?  (His real name is actually Vince Schlomi.  Teehee.)  Well, here is remixed video of his Slap Chop infomercial, appropriately titled the “Rap Chop”.  The person who made this ABSOLUTELY has too much time on their hands, but it is funny.  Best part?  “You’re gonna love my nuts”.  Oh, Vince.  How the mighty infomercial spokesman have fallen.  And just for funsies, here is his mugshot.

vince-offers-mugshot-2830-1238188403-5

[Posted by Kathleen]

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