But the one time I watch something, I am so glad it was this.

You can hate IC if you want to (Angeline.) Maybe Green Man is the only saving grace to this video. (Angeline.)  My saving grace is seeing a twin Mary Buehler among faceless faces. Was just recently informed that it isn’t her, but it’s strange how much it looks like her! She pops up out of nowhere. [Watch out for bizarro Mary in the beginning of the Spice Girls part right by the smoothie place Fed worked. ]

Or you can love IC and appreciate some strange, geeky creativity for people to get their shit together, dance poorly, and make something we can all laugh at. Which is what I intend to do.

fresh pineapple, right off the rind

birthday present comes in the mail!

I’ve recently (shamefully) JUST discovered Black Cat here in DC. With an awesome bar and well, kind of a cantina, serving veg and vegan foods (in addition to meaty delights.) Another easily accessible dive that I want to find myself at more and more. New things are abound. Even though I hadn’t listened to them before, Peter Bjorn and John’s new record Gimme Some is that fresh wake from boredom I’ve been suffering. And, thankfully I’ve made friends with our neighbor who is reminding me that punk is everywhere (how could I ever need reminding of this?) And bands with three minute songs rock harder than anyone can argue. The 90s are reemerging with Yuck (opening for Tame Impala!) and J Mascis having a solo album that is just as much a beautiful open wound as the new Kurt Vile. There is plenty waiting on the edge of town waiting to challenge you, make you almost unsure of yourself. There is nothing quite like it.

There is this group out called Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA). Known mostly as Odd Future. They were on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and have been popping up on Pitchfork a lot. I also found this from Esquire. And they were blogged about by NPR over a month ago. A group of 10 rappers from LA, they are dirty like I’ve never heard. As a new fan of hip hop and promoter of its enjoyment, I say – listen. Not for the faint of ear, they are foul and dissonant. Making their own sounds and impressing the hip hop community (music community?) Their ages range from 17 to 23 years old (so they say) and despite those who will tell me that they are boring and too over the top for their own good, I still think they have something to say and create. And people are noticing. There is something about the presence of hip hop in our mainstream culture – how accessible it’s become and where it has come from. Even though the sometimes uncomfortable topics of race can be all that matters in this genre, we can still find it everywhere. Odd Future is not holding anything back. We hear the culture, style, politics and philosophy itself in the music. And while I still feel like an outsider to a genre that doesn’t classically belong to me – every day someone tells me to forget about it and move on. But I still think, with hip hop becoming more and more dominant each day – where do discussions about race begin and end? Confidence and skepticism go hand in hand.

Then, I picked up the next copy and saw our (funny? not funny?) friend Demetri Martin had been the Shouts & Murmurs contributor. Pleasant, funny and with interesting structure to it, I laughed outloud on the Metro (while, gag, traveling to work to deal with Voice Tracks on a Saturday morning). It made my ride much shorter, especially since the red line had (always has) track maintenece delaying it.

I love the New Yorker. Easily, it’s my favorite magazine. I love to read David Denby tear people a new one and Anthony Lane be sympathetic to mainstream comedies.

Yesterday the new issue came in the mail. Overlooked at first, during my second entire flip through I noticed the fiction by David Foster Wallace. His last novel is being published this Spring. Angeline asked me where he lives. I replied, “He’s dead. He killed himself in 2008.” Actually, was good friends with Jonathan Franzen and Dave Eggers. I hear genius-assholes travel in packs.

And if you haven’t gotten your fill of Scientology, this article is FASCINATING. It’s long. In a nut – it’s about a man named Paul Haggis. He was one of the highest-up leaders of the Church of Scientology. Reccently stepped down because the church refused to speak out against the repeal of the Prop 8 decision in California.  It not only chronicles his story (he wrote Million Dollar Baby and Crash) but a detailed history (like I said, it’s long) of Scientology in Hollywood, which is gripping.

I sent this around to few, and can’t remember if I’ve mentioned Tom Ewing before. He’s the Poptimist columnist at Pitchfork. The most recent contributition of his discusses Lady Gaga, her popularity, idiocy and genius. We might hate her, or love her. But she is doing something right, right? (Aside from the meat dress.) I don’t like her, and I barely can list her songs let alone sing along to any of them. Honestly. Although I do believe there is something to be said about her.

Also, thanks for this Mary.

yup

Not only is Jon Stewart on the cover of New York Magazine, he has a new book coming out.

I love the New Yorker. I love it even more when my roommate steals them from her office (they were gonna be thrown away anyways…) and brings them home for me. This edition has a great profile of Mark Zuckerberg. After reading it, and seeing the full commercial for the new movie coming out on October 1, the Social Network, I’m into the story. It’s fascinating and probably one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) stories of our generation.

Also, I love Woody Allen. I know one person who doesn’t. My sister Kyle. She’s crazy for it. I didn’t know he has a new movie coming out. Did you? The photo there makes him look old. I didn’t realize how old he is. I guess the reality is he looks older than he is. That doesn’t make me love him less. What does is the fact that he’s married to his adopted daughter.

Life without music. It’s disgusting. Well, I’m assuming it would be. Last Monday I challenged myself to one week sans music just on my commute to and from work. Glad to be re-reading The Bonfire Of The Vanities, I’ve been too deep into Tom Wolfe to miss polyphonic beauty. It has led to incredible strangeness in my life. I do not recommend this but I do recommend lending yourself to a personal challenge. What else are you doing?

What’s with this? Living in a major city and using public transportation every day (and as a commuter) has made me an angry person. It makes me hate people. Which I know is rancid. But I sleep at night. Very well.

Music note: new favorite. Check out The Morning Benders.

Maureen Dowd is a cold, powerful woman whose intensity and intelligence surpasses her sweet, sensitive side. She has great  red hair and sharp red lipstick to match. Her lips are usually pierced with a smurky smile (see sample photo.) She’s written Are Men Necessary: When Sexes Collide and gave nicknames to Bush and Cheney over the years as “W.” and “Big Time” respectively. She won the Pulitzer for her columns on the Monica Lewinski and Clinton years. Also, she was just featured in this month’s Vanity Fair with A Girl’s Guide to Saudi Arabia. You can see a small piece of her article here. So, basically she’s a bad ass.

Check out her chronicles of Steinbrenner and Seinfeld and don’t be afraid to lurk around her page and read her past contributions. They are usually all pretty terrific.

Men who are geniuses are sexy. But there’s something about this one that is not appealing to me at all. Don’t worry, I still love you. We all do.

Story.