Category Archives: RIP

by | September 16, 2008 · 4:23 pm

trl is like totally old news.

It is the end of an era.  Really, it is.  Total Request Live, MTV’s show aimed at the 12-15 crowd (so that means you start watching when you’re 10, and stop when you’re 14…and occasionally turn it on when you’re 16 or 17…just because it’s on) is ending it’s 10 year run in November. WAHHHHHHH.  I feel my post-college depression kicking in yet again.  And like last time, when they changed the game of Clue, Cheez-Its will soothe my pain.

So what are we really losing?  Here is how TRL is described on the MTV Web site:

At TRL, we bring you the latest, greatest music videos, bangin’ live performances and the hottest celebs. First, we combine your online votes, with the top songs and artists from all the places you go for music — mtv.com, downloads, music charts, ringtones, radio and more — to create the hottest, most all-inclusive music countdown.

Wowie, this is serious.  This show is important. People are enfranchised, there are great music videos, hot celebs, and of course we can’t forget the banging’ live performances.  And an opportunity for girls to act like this when the Jonas Brothers come to town.  Okay, I just love this picture and want to use it all the time.

Here’s the thing–I haven’t watched TRL since the Backstreet Boys (sigh. Why are you such a screw up, Nick Carter? We were supposed to get mawwwied!) but I’m still kind of sad.  And Carson Daly hasn’t been on the show mimicking not only the clothing style of whoever his guest was, but also the verbal style, since 2003.  Now I’m all sappy and reminiscing.  Remember when Carson dated Tara Reid?! 

Sick.  Oh and another scary thought, Carson is 35 years old now.

I’m just sad that future generations won’t be able to talk about TRL the way my friends and I can.  It’s sort of like when we talk about how good MTV’s Undressed was, my brother has no clue what we’re talking about.  At least I hope he doesn’t.  That show was wayyy inappropriate for him at the time.  Me too, I guess.

Anyway, I leave you with a music video, circa 2000, that is the only proper way to end this post and bid farewell to TRL:

Bye Bye Bye, TRL.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | September 15, 2008 · 8:57 pm

rip pink floyd keyboardist richard wright.

RIP Richard Wright, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, who died of cancer today.  He was 65 years old.

Wright left the band/was fired during the recording of The Wall.  But he rejoined later.  Read about his life here.

Here is one of my favorite Pink Floyd songs.  Well, favorite songs in general.  Thank you, Richard.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | September 3, 2008 · 7:38 am

movie trailers won’t be the same.

RIP Don LaFontaine, the man with a voice that made us want to see every movie…even if we didn’t know why.  LaFontaine, who was 68, lent his voice to over 5,000 movie trailers and 750,000 teevee spots in a 33 year career.  Damnnnnn.  I think this is a nice picture.

Here’s Don working his magic in the Geico commerical:

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | August 20, 2008 · 5:04 pm

changing the game of clue: whodunnit?!

Due to my post-college depression, I don’t like change. Except when it comes with a healthy dose of hope and a large helping of Barack Obama. Haha. But you know what I mean. I feel myself especially threatened emotionally when staples from my younger years are changed. When I learned that Hasbro is totally changing the game of Clue, I immediately found myself drowning my sorrows in a box of Cheez-Its while whining “I’m so olddddddd” to my poor dog. I not crazy, I swear.

Clue is very near and dear to my heart! It was one of the few board games that I could actually win as a child. Monopoly taught me at a young age that I was miserable at math and business, but Clue, ah Clue– Clue made me feel as if I could one day work for the C.I.A. I was just THAT GOOD at finding out who killed Mr. Boddy in what room with what weapon.

According to the AP, the new Clue is updated to fit in with “tabloid culture”. I love me some tabloids, but geeez louise, keep it out of my board games.

The six characters’ last names remain the same, but their first names and bios have been updated. For example, Miss Scarlet is now Kasandra Scarlet, a famous actress often featured in tabloids. And Mr. Green is now Jacob Green, an African-American “with all the ins.”

HAHA oh man. “With all the ins”. What does that possibly mean? Hmmm. I wonder if he makes his final accusations in ebonics? One of my favorites, Colonel Mustard is now Jack Mustard, an ex-football player. Professor Plum is now a video game designer. I’m not making that up. How are we supposed to feel smart playing this game if our characters have gotten dumber?! And here is the greatest part of all, each character now has a special power to help them solve clues. LIke superhero powers? WHAT ABOUT MY SHARP AND NIMBLE MIND?! Ahh this is too much to handle. But wait, there’s more. No more revolver, lead pipe or wrench–instead we have a dumbbell, trophy or poison. Poison? Ehh, alright. Giving us Chuck Norris’ right leg would have been more practical than a dumbbell. Now there’s a weapon.

Clue has even gotten nouveau riche on us. There’s now a spa, theater and a guest house. Mr. Boddy’s classy, beautiful mansion wasn’t good enough. They made it a McMansion!

They are taking the original Clue off the shelves this fall. Go get it now, or forever be burdened with this travesty.

RIP Colonel Mustard. You will be missed. Here he is, in all his glory.

Rawr.

I can think of only one positive thing to say about this whole ordeal. Perhaps with this new version Miss Scarlett will finally be the slootbag we all knew she was/wanted her to be. Perhaps.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | August 20, 2008 · 5:24 am

on the death of leroi moore.

Dave Matthews Band saxophonist LeRoi Moore died Tuesday from complications due to an ATV accident he had on June 30. Not many details about the cause of death have been released, but we do know that Moore had recently returned home to L.A. to start physical therapy. To me, that fact makes it a lot sadder; I hate the idea that he seemed to be doing well and that his friends and family probably got their hopes up that he would make it.

Moore had been with the band from the start. At a concert on Tuesday, Dave told the crowd about Moore’s death, acknowledging that “It’s always easier to leave than be left.” Wise words, bud.

As I’ve mentioned, I saw Dave live this summer at the Mile High Music Festival, and I remember my friend Katie was really bummed that Moore was not playing with the band that day, because he was her favorite of the band members. And we just realized that my roommate saw DMB live on June 28, which means she may have been among the last lucky ones to get to see Moore play. 

Here’s a New York Times article about Moore’s death, and DMB’s website has a nice tribute page up right now. 

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | July 26, 2008 · 6:26 pm

youtube clip of today: last lecture.

Last year, Professor Randy Pausch gave his final lecture at Carnegie Mellon. Pausch, a computer science professor, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given just a month or so. He died on Friday. Here is the video of his moving last lecture, titled, “Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”. This lecture became an internet sensation, a book, and Pausch even made an appearance on Oprah.

While over 400 people attended his original lecture and millions have since heard his speech, he said his message was ultimately for his three children. He wrote in his book:

“I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children.”

How eloquent is that?

RIP Randy Pausch, thank you for your wisdom. He said, “If I don’t seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you.” You didn’t disappoint, Randy, you inspired.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | July 15, 2008 · 5:43 pm

tribute: to uncle kevin, yankee stadium.

Though I generally just support all Denver sports, I would consider myself to be a Yankee fan. It’s in my genes. My dad has always been a big Yankee fan (I’m actually not sure why, considering he was born and raised in Denver), and my mom’s whole side of the family is from New York. In fact, my mom and her four brothers grew up in the Bronx, not too far from Yankee Stadium. My mom’s youngest brother, my Uncle Kevin, is a die hard Yankee fan, and he truly appreciates the rare times he actually gets to go to a game in person.

My sister and I went to visit my Uncle Kevin about ten years ago, and he was determined that we experience a game at Yankee Stadium. I remember getting there, buying some souvenirs, and being introduced to what my uncle said was a quintessential New York baseball food: a soft pretzel with mustard on the side. (I still love pretzels dipped in mustard.) Then, to our disappointment — but much more so to my uncle’s — the game was rained out, and we didn’t get to see a single pitch.

Now that this is the last year the Yanks will play at their beloved old stadium, I’ll probably never get to see a game there. Still, I’m glad that I got pretty darn close, with someone whose passion for the game did the experience justice.

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | July 14, 2008 · 10:51 pm

RIP olive riley, world’s oldest blogger.

The “World’s oldest blogger”, 108-year-old Olive Riley, died on Saturday.

I was just perusing her blog and I cannot even believe how cool this woman was. If you want to know what it was like growing up in WWI and WWII, you should read it. She saw a lot in her lifetime. Plus, she was all about singing happy songs and so am I.

Olive, you have totally inspired me. I want to blog until I’m 108 and make you all read what I have to say (and never get a real job! AHHH). But seriously, she was pretty amazing and I wanted to acknowledge that.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | July 2, 2008 · 1:19 am

hey trouble, loan me twenty bucks?

Here comes Trouble

According to the New York Times (old habits die hard…), crazy hotel/real estate lady Leona Helmsley is REALLY obsessed with dogs. And sort of seems to hate people.

Mrs. Helmsley is no stranger to headlines; after her death last August she shocked people by leaving $12 million to her dog, Trouble (pictured above). A judge later knocked that down to a mere $2 million ($100,000 of which goes to security for the Maltese, who was receiving death threats from, um, jealous strangers?), but the real winners here are dogs all over the country, who stand to benefit from an up to $8 billion trust that Mrs. Helmsley has donated to needy pups:

Her instructions, specified in a two-page “mission statement,” are that the entire trust, valued at $5 billion to $8 billion and amounting to virtually all her estate, be used for the care and welfare of dogs, according to two people who have seen the document and who described it on condition of anonymity.

All of that might make you think Helmsley is just a sweet old woman who really loved dogs, but you’d be wrong. She was known for her “sharp tounge and impatience with humanity,” and she earned the nickname “The Queen of Mean” after a trip to the big house in 1989 for tax evasion. Lady, if you had millions of dollars to give your dog, you certainly had enough money to pay your taxes. (Or maybe tax evasion’s just something that sickeningly rich people do for fun.)

Apparently, the lady’s totally batshit. Although she left tons of money to her precious purse dog, she left two of her grandchildren out of the will. And if that wasn’t enough, she threw two veeewy strange requests into her will: one, that her tomb be “acid-washed or steam-cleaned” each year (and you thought your job was bad) and two, that “two of her grandchildren’s $10 million inheritance [be]contingent on their visiting their father’s grave” and signing in at a registration book in the mausoleum.

I guess this country really has gone to the dogs (ba dum CHING!).

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | June 28, 2008 · 2:35 pm

hey, karen? you are the coolest.

Over winter break this year, a few of my friends and I holed up in our friend Doobie’s house for a wonderful few days of what we now call “Camp Nowhere.” His parents were out of town, so we had the house to ourselves and felt as excited as little kids who are accidentally left without supervision. Among other things, during these few days we all got addicted to the Showtime series Californication. Now I’d never so much as heard of the show, but in one day, we all became so addicted that we watched all twelve episodes in a row. The show has sex, drugs, a lot of snarkiness, and even some rock ‘n’ roll. What more could a girl ask for?

Over the past few days, I’ve been forcing Kelsey to watch the show, and I’m proud to say that now that she’s seen the entire season, she’s hooked. Hands down, the best person in the show is Karen, David Duchovny’s character’s ex-“wife” (they were never actually married). She is my new idol, and I think it’s universally accepted that she’s the coolest person ever. She’s got great hair, great clothes, she’s tall (we tall girls have to stick together, you know), and I’ll even concede that her tattoos are cool. Plus, her sunglasses have sent my friend Katie on a quest to find “Karen sunglasses.” Is that creepy? We don’t care. (Speaking of creepy, the lights in the office I’m working in just went off…dun dun dun…) And Karen is the perfect antidote to all of the horrible girls in the show, like Mia (WHORE) and Dani (also a whore).

Let’s look at how cool Karen is:

What up Ktray

Hi Hank

I want to be you

I WANT TO BE HER. Or at least I’d like to have all of her jackets.

Of course, Karen is a real person, and her name is Natascha McElhone, and she seems just as cool in real life as in the show. But in my stalking of Karen/Natascha, I discovered terrible, terrible news. Turns out, Natascha’s 42-year-old husband, plastic surgeon Martin Kelly, randomly dropped dead of a heart attack about a month ago. And to make it worse, Karen is pregnant with their third child. So, at the risk of sounding like one of those creepy fan blogs (although I suppose it’s too late for that…), send your happiest, most sympathetic rays of thought out to the McElhones. So sad!

[Posted by Mallory]

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