Saturday, September 30, 2006

New Quiz- Who's your Bollywood crush?

If I had the time and energy to creat such a quiz, I would rig it so that my result was "Aamir Kahn"... The result would be typical of the "who's-your-crush" style, and read something like this.





Whether heroically ridding the villiage of imperial dictators, or simply sweeping you off your feet, your Bollywood crush- Aamir is strong, thoughtful, and sweet all rolled into one- with a side of humor! But don't be fooled by his dashing good looks, he's no Bollywood playboy! He'll be true to you and you only thanks to his culture's staunch moral code!

You'll meet for the first time on the steps of the Taj-Mahal. He'll inquire in his adorable broken English about the book you are reading. Sharing your love of literature will bring you close, and sharing a view of the beautiful Indian sunset will bring you closer! Oh!

Did you ever dream you'd spend the rest of your life with a singing, dancing, acting, superstar??




http://mangalpandey.spaces.live.com/
Go hither and see how wonderful he really is. GO! But don't worry- as is typical of any and all Bolly/Hollywood crushes I can come up with- He's old! TOO old! Which leaves me in the much less awkward position of 'admirer.' It's always nicer to not be considered a potential stalker, I think.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

New Website for Friends in Need of gets Inspiration

Alright. I know I just re-did my band's website (www.friendsinneedof.com) but I have felt consistently guilty about the fact that you cannot view it if you don't have flash. Is that a cop-out? I say, 'yes.'

But at the same time...the flash site isn't even up to it's bestest abilities (entirely my fault), and I just don't think I have it in me to carry the same theme (clearly tropica/summery) into the fall and winter with an html site.

So, I've reached a compromise. New html site in a different theme. It's such a great concept. Twin sites for a band that contains twin brothers. Both very different, and yet containing the same genetic information... just like the websites... sort of.

But what of the new idea? Oh, I'll tell you.

Now that the internet is starting to get older, the stone-age sites with straight html line after line after line, are all being replaced with flash, and the like. At least fancy CSS. So you could say that the website of 10 years ago, with it's 16 colors and blocky graphics (if any graphics at all) can now be considered retro...and EVERYONE knows that retro is very, very in right now. Because of nostalgia, I hopefully will be able to creat a super simple site with very little effort, that makes people think of their youth.

And I've said this before- never leave your youth in the car without first cracking a window.

So what retro computer fad makes me nostalgic? Answer: adventure games from lucasArts. Clearly the only company that ever did anything right in that area (I don't want to hear about King's Quest and Space Quest so just sit on it). More specifically, I love Monkey Island. My biggest nerd secret- that I always wanted to make a Monkey Island tribute website (I still might someday), but for the time being I am just going to settle with being inspired by early MI graphics, and developing my own band site. I think I'll draw us as if we were MI characters...piratey, maybe... which would work out so well considering our OTHER website has an island theme. Wow. Here's some examples for you in the dark, there.





DOWNLOAD A DEMO!

Edward Gorey- look him up



Imagine that it's me, and instead of "school" it said "temporary job"...

No, I'm kidding. It's not so bad. But really, I am right in the middle of two potentially cool situations. On one side I could be living the life of a free-wheeling temp- on a day- off a day, meeting new people, being thrust into new situations with new challenges multiple times a week. On the other side there's permanent employment, safe, secure, lots of co-workers to befriend, and no worry about whether you have the money to pay for lunch out every day. Instead I am in the middle. Two weeks at the same job. No co-worker friends, no exciting assignments. Honestly, what I'm doing today was my own idea. How sad is that?

Pretty sad.

Edward Gorey is the man. I would like to find out more about him. This website makes it sound as if he is dead. It's a shame I can't 'IMDB' him to find out. I know that doesn't make sense...and yet it does. Oh, ok. He died in 2000.

As is the case with Ghostworld, I hold a special place in my heart for Gorey because a friend of mine said I drew like him. It is nice to not know about the people you are being compared to. Then you get to look them up and be pleasantly suprised.

I am getting this calendar when the time comes. You should too. Amazon also has 8 million books by the guy, and an awesome poster. Look it up.


Saturday, September 23, 2006

How to increase blog traffic

I've been wondering about how people do it- get many blog readers/subscribers. Maybe I don't understand, or have any idea because I do not actually read other people's blogs, myself. How hypocritical! How obnoxious! I guess I have to start somewhere. So here, I'm on a mission.

Five blogs I'm going to read, and what I think:

#1 -Youngest of One
This blog is written by my friend Will whom I met through a family picnic (his family). I was very lucky to be embraced by this wildy creative and uninhibited group of people, and his blog is no let-down. Right now Will is in the throws of student-dom, and being good at it. From the sounds of things, he doesn't have much to worry about. If you are feeling lethargic about your life in general, you should read this and remember that you too at one point had ambitions that you could still carry out if you just had a little more drive and imagination. Thanks for the inspiriation, buddy!

#2 Ann Regentin
Now, this blog I just found by clicking "next blog"... interesting. She seems to be some kind of errotic/romance writer. Hmm... not what I was looking for but ALSO not what I was expecting. This is a good lesson in the "how to get more readers" book- suprise the disinterested reader into stopping by for a bit of fun.

#3 English 3810:Advanced Composition
Well, next I looked up chiauas...the dogs... I have spelled the word wrong here, and I spelled it wrong when I searched it- google corrected me. Google is my secretary. Anyway, this blog was cute and "now" with witty dialogue about current fashion. I did, however become annoyed by some incorrect spelling and grammar. There is a lesson to be learned here. As eloquent as you may be, bad grammar and spelling make you look uneducated, or sloppy. I definitely need some help in this area.

#4 Fishing with john: Tom Waits and a Snapper in his pants
Next I searched all blogs for Tom Waits. Twas a good idea. I came upon this blog, which is a video. Another good lesson learned. People love videos, and thanks to the 'ole YouTube it's as easy as 1.2.3. It's also good to have some videos up for linking purposes. I have a nice camera, lots of time, and an adorable dog... why don't I make more videos? None of them would rival Tom Waits on a fishing trip, but it would be a start.

#5 My Sister's Kitchen
Lastly, I was making a chicken casserole (no one seems to do that) and I realized that I should have covered it when it was in the oven. But wait, then the breadcrumbs on top wouldn't have crisped, right? WRONG. First you cover so that the moisture is trapped inside and the breadcrumbs get good and hydrated- THEN you uncover so that they crisp into a newfound glory. Well I decided to search for casseroles on blogs, and this was probably one of the most rewarding searches. I think that blogs work the best when they are helpful, and share data with other people. That's really what this whole 'internet' thing is about, right? I suppose that makes my last lesson to remember and share what little useful information you might have (as long as your not a magician- magicians never share their secrets!)

Friday, September 22, 2006

chocolate pocky- For Men!

To understand the title you must know about pocky. There's not that much to know but it's sooooo much fun- can you say "HOORAY" for wacky Asian marketing?? I can.


Soo... I'm at work...trying to learn the difference between the sound of footsteps behind me as opposed to in front. Damn the visibility of my cubicle. And my conscience. Damn that too.

I have a whole entry saved somewhere about office-work and temping and jobs... but I guess it will have to wait. Instead I'll talk about embarassment.

So last night we go out to a comic book store (called Forbidden Planet- It gives you your commics in a black bag that has "FORBIDDEN PLANET" written accross the front so that everyone thinks you just bought porn!- {see a comic geek's guide to nyc}) And it's in the area of Rififi so I decide we should go get a drink and see if it's a different scene from Wednesdays (see previous posts). It IS different. We caught the very end of "Oh Hello" an act where two young men act like 2 older men ... a little bit like the like budda" Mike Myers days, but men. I looove this sort of thing so I was thrilled to catch 8 min of it. I had a shot of yaeger and a whisky sour. Mmm alcohol + my low tolerance! Things were gearing up to be awesome.

So after the show the bar was filling up with a very interesting type of people... Turns out it's because of the burlesque show they host on Thursdays. Now there's a show-watching area in the back of the bar- like it's own room- so needless to say I begin to wonder when I see them hanging a sheet up in the window (as if it would not be ok for people to see into the bar)

We're sitting in front of this sheet when one of the comedian performers walks by and stands by the window and just happens to be facing us. I wave (what did I say about low tolerance) and he waves and then comes over and introduces himself. How nice! So we're chatting and it's all...do you live in the neighborhood...no we're supers... Do you have a day job or is comedy it? Comedy has been "it" for 10 years (wow)... I'm going to tour with Demeitri Martin... He's got so many friends because of the Daily Show... etc. etc.

I'm sure this all sounds very nice, but I swear to god whenever I make a comment about anything it falls to the floor with a big fat thud. Oh, I can ask questions and start convos (which manage to sound dumb) but god forbid I end up making the closing statement on a subject, because it is awful. I wasn't so much embarassed for myself as I was for the people with me- I am sorry for them. When did I become the great conversation killer?

I will say it's not all my fault. I think the guy was tired. Because I don't really think we were trying to hard... Who knows, I've never really even befriended a stranger in a bar, let alone someone who you have that awkward relationship with because you know so much more about them than they do about you, and it's not likely to reverse EVER. But I think there were some decent statements that fell to the ground- we mentioned we were in a band a few times...*thunk*...But normally anyone would say "Oh? what kind of music do you play?" ... but no... not even pretend interest. So maybe it wasn't just me.

The one funny moment was when a scantily clad lady said "excuse me, I have to get up there" and kind of kicked us off the large window sill we were sitting on. Comedian Leo joked "Excuse me, I have to dance naked where your sitting"... Then realized that this was exactly what she was planning on doing... He was like, holy shit- i thought I was kidding.

Ah well. Should I plug something? How about a good movie about awkward moments? Lets think...




Oh *F* movies. I just bought shoes the other days...heart my sketchers. THE END.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Welcome to Good Burger

home of the good burger
can I take your order?

This is why netflix is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Because I've always wished that I could see Goodburger. And now I can. And now I DID!

He's trying to tell us that there are four clowns and their stuck somewhere because their car broke down!



ABE VIGODA!

I don't know how to say this...
-Oh it's easy! Just say "Thiiiiiiiisss"

*What do you think is cute about me?
~You're head!
*You have a cute head too!
~Haha, well, I try to keep it nice.

KENAN AND KEL IN DRAG!

Naw, man...stuff like that's gotta be ILlegal!

Shaaaaaaq!

I'm a dude!
He's a dude!
She's a dude!
We're all dudes! Hey!

And now presenting- Good Burger, the un-answered questions:
#1: In the scene where the Good Burger crew's electricity has been cut, and they're sitting sadly in the dark, why is manager Bailey holding a guitar?
#2: Why does the Good Burger have a picture of a submarine (sandwich) on their wall? Did they go through that awkward phase where they try to sell "healthy" food like Arby's and Wendy's?
#3: Does a Good Shake involve milk, or is it more like a Slurpee?

I'd like to add more and more questions to this list. Feel free to add your own.


from Ghost World to Lagaan

Oh movies. I love 'em.

Have you ever seen Ghost World? If you haven't, you should. Maybe I have a special love of it because TWICE in one day people I had just met said- "Have you seen Ghost World? You're JUST like the Ghost World girl." One of them even said "except smaller"... nice...

Basically it's about people who are bitter about the mainstream, and have decided to forgo higher education to pursue... something else. Mostly just trying not to be around the mainstream. But then one of them begins to lose the intensity of her non-mainstream-ness while the other spirals even farther into the weird, demented, and "lame"est of interests. She does this by befriending Steve Buscemi- which is how I imagine anyone would. I must say that I love this movie 100% of the time, but I'm only in the mood to watch it 50% of the time. Maybe it hits a little tooo close to home.

But I bring Ghost World up because in the beginning of the film. It shows Enid (the main character) watching a totally random 1960's Indian rock video. It's awesome. This always made me jealous that people in movies (and who write movies) have all these really select interests and hobbies that I would not even know how to start pursuing. Luckily I went to film school (which really didn't help as much as you might think). However, thanks to my love of choppy dancing and lack of anything better to do, I showed up (with my Ghostworld-y roomate) to see a 4 hr screening of Lagaan.

Oh man it was AWESOME! Bollywood is the bomb, everyone. Just thought you should know. Yes it can be long. Yes it follows the classic format of a Hollywood musical (i.e. story stops when singing starts) but for some reason it's still just heavenly. It also has an award winning soundtrack.

Brief Synopsis:
Set in the middle of India in the past (as in, when the British were all up in India's piece) It tells the story of a little villiage that cannot afford to pay their taxes ("lagaan") because of a sever drought- when the Lagaan is all of the sudden doubled! It's doubled by an asshole called Russel who gets his kicks from hunting, and playing mind games with his Hindi associates (as in "Hey, I'll do what you ask, if you eat some meat...just eat it... it's just a little meat... screw your religion and just eat the meat...) ASShole! So Russel, in all his ass-holiness, gets offeneded when Buvhan (the oh-so-sexy hero) calls the game of Cricket "silly and stupid." He says that if the village pulls together a team and beats them in a game of Cricket, he'll forgive them the Lagaan for THREE YEARS- but if they lose, they have to pay thrice as much! Oh, and Russel has a sister who falls for Buvhan, teaches the village the game of Cricket, and helps to form a weak love triangle- but you are totally rooting for the cute Hindi girl the whole time (even though she's a little jealous).

A brief synopsial Haiku (for those who thought my synopsis was not "brief" enough)

A village in need
Bitish asshole crickiteer
happy ending-duh!

So whether you like offbeat films or just films about people who like offbeat films, one of the movies I mentioned today IS for YOU!


Thursday, September 14, 2006

Com-e-dy! assault and battery!

So we've been going to see stand-up and that makes us feel like REAL hip, young New Yorker's for sure. Luckily, it's also amusing as hell, and cheap! We go to a bar called Rififi because I read about it on Eugene Mirman's website . I heard about his website when he shamelessly plugged it during the commentary on my Home Movies DVD.

Are we seeing how amazing this technological time we're living in is??

So here are some features of the show that make it endearing and worth seeing EVEN WHEN the comedians are a bomb (which they have not yet been)
Feature #1. When host Bobby Tisdale feels that energy is low, he has the sound guy blast Kelly Clarkson's new song (which he loves) and then he blows a fireball using 151.
Feature #2. Eugene Mirman often brings videos to show, which, if you do not live in the NYC area and are sad you might never see them, can also be found on YouTube.
Feature #3. They all stay after the show and get bombed! So let's say you're a little shy but you just wish you could stay and hang out with all these incredibly cool commedians... As long as you have money for drinks, you CAN stay after the show and hang out with all these incredibly cool comedians... AND the place is so small, you'll probably end up spilling your drink on one of them! (History shows there is no better method of instigating friendship with a complete stranger, than bumping into them with an alcoholic beverage)

Anyway, the show on Wednesdays is called "Invite them Up!" and they sell a CD (which I'd like to one day purchase). It's got all their greatest little biddies so far. Perhaps if 12.5 of you buy the CD through me, I can then use the Amazon gift certificate I am getting paid in to purchase the CD for myself!

Either way, you should come down to Rififi (11th St. between 1st and 2nd) and holla at all the great comedians and well-made (but not cheap) drinks.


Sorry about the excessive store-ness. But I own ALL these DVD seasons of Home Movies, and occasionally depending on the week, etc, etc, THEY MAKE LIFE WORTH LIVING!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Back in business

I've decided to turn the blog into a bookstore as well. That-a-way I can share oh so much more with my devoted blog audience (devoted blog audience count is currently at 0).

Todays promo: Iron West

Three reasons this is a cool thing to have
#1- It's a graphic novel. In a lot of circles graphic novels have begun to pop up on bookshelves and coffee tables. It's fun to start your conversation about your graphic novels by saying "I don't actually read comics, but this one is different..."
#2- It was written by the creator of Earthworm Jim. You should already know who and what that is, and why it's cool.
#3- It's quite amusing...It's the first comic I have appreciated in black and white. I've even resisted the urge to color it in! (so far)