Category Archives: media madness

30 Day Challenge-Day 1

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Favorite Actor

I will probably cheat on many of these, because I have such a hard time narrowing anything like this down to just one choice.

So, there’s this guy…

paul rudd

And this one…

adam baldwin

And I’ve become a huge fan of this one, too.

RobertDowneyJr

And honestly, I could be here all day with this…but here are a few others I can’t go without mentioning:

Victor Garber, Neil Patrick Harris, Matthew Perry, Jason Segel, Alec Baldwin, John C. McGinley, Colin Firth, John Cusack…and I’ll probably remember a whole bunch more two minutes after I post this. 🙂

Food Wars-Buffalo!

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While I admittedly don’t watch the travel channel much, nor do I have a horse in the “Who has the best chicken wings in Buffalo” race, this is kind of cool.

chicken-wings

The travel channel is launching a new show called Food Wars, and their first episode (airing at 10 p.m. Tuesday, March 9) features Buffalo! See details about the show and the episode below:

Food Wars Summary
There’s a debate brewing across the country with legions of loyal fans passionately defending the local eateries and the iconic dishes that make their towns famous. Travel Channel’s newest show, Food Wars, sets out to find the country’s most celebrated dishes – foods that define destinations and create local rivalries spanning generations – and settle the debate, “Who makes the Best Dish in Town?” once and for all. We’re featuring two cities, Buffalo and Chicago, for the premiere in back-to-back episodes of Food Wars on March 9 beginning at 10pm.

Rivalry Details – Buffalo
In Buffalo, NY there is a forty-year food war between Anchor Bar and Duff’s – each claiming to have the best chicken wings in town. The iconic dish was first invented by the people at Anchor Bar earning the restaurant the reputation as being “home to the original”. But first doesn’t necessarily mean “best” and many Buffalonians believe that Duff’s is where it’s at when it comes to Buffalo Chicken Wings. A few years after Anchor Bar, Duff’s began selling its own version of wings and people have been “flocking” to it ever since. But does Duff’s have what it takes to knock the original off its pedestal? It’s gonna take a star-studded blind taste taster panel and even a visit from the city Mayor to settle this city’s serious wing war – which side will you be on?

Check out the preview:

27 songs that never fail to make me happy*

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(yes, I opted for “more wasting time on the internet, plz”)

Here they are, in no particular order

1. Don’t Stop Believin’–Journey

This song is actually currently my ringtone. Yes, I’m serious.

2. Without Me–Eminem

3. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree–KT Tunstall

4. Cold, Cold Heart–Midge Ure

5. I’d Like That–XTC

6. New Mistake–Jellyfish

7. Waterloo-ABBA

8. Short Skirt/Long Jacket–Cake

9. Wandrin’ Around–Carbon Leaf

10. Got to Get You Into My Life–The Beatles

11. Here on Earth (I’ll Have My Cake)–Crash Test Dummies

12. Just Can’t Get Enough–Depeche Mode

13. Ordinary Day–Great Big Sea

14. Geek in the Pink–Jason Mraz

15. My Baby Loves Me–Martina McBride

16. The Way You Make Me Feel–Michael Jackson

17. King of Spain–Moxy Fruvous

18. Hey Ya!–Outkast

19. Solar Circle Girl–Einstein’s Sister

20. Mr. Blue Sky–ELO

21. Ana Ng–They Might Be Giants

22. Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It–Will Smith

23. Molly–Jackdaw

24. Cecelia–Simon and Garfunkel

25. Still Can’t Buy Me Love–Ookla the Mok

26. Bad Romance–Lady GaGa

27. Days Go On So Long–The Frogs

*by no means is this a list of the ONLY songs that make me happy…just a random list!

Things I am behind on

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1. Grading. Always. I need to accept that this is just a normal state of being for an English teacher…especially one who took on an extra class. (I love, love, love teaching my college class. I really do…the class is fun, and they’re a great group of students. But I am exhausted.)

2. TV watching. Watched HIMYM last night, but not Big Bang (yes, I did hear how funny it was…). Almost caught up with Glee (just last week’s ep to watch, which yes, I also heard was awesome, thanks). Some shows I have given up on watching currently and will catch them on DVD (Dollhouse and Castle among them).

3. TC stuff. Must do newsletter for October…I am committing to doing that today, even though I should be grading and/or lesson planning. Sorry ’bout that.

4. Birthdays. My sister-in-law’s birthday was yesterday and I have not mailed her card yet. I did write on her facebook wall, though… (happy birthday, Leslie! I’m sorry!)

Ah…in other news, I am greatly enjoying my new MacBook Pro! I have the most awesome husband ever. 😉

On that note…

5. Moving all of the information and applications I need from the old computer to the new computer. I’ve got all my documents, pictures, and music, and some applications. I need to get all my bookmarks (from firefox) and my address book over to the new computer.

6. Reading. Um, yeah. I did finish Transmetropolitan. Also, Rand has me reading some horrible, overwritten, soap-opera-y comic from the late 70s-early 80s that he read as a teenager. But pages filled with words? Nothing, except the stuff I’m reading for school and my college class (mostly short stories and epic poems. sample: “The Secret Life of Walter Mittty,” “The Necklace,” “The Most Dangerous Game,” “Gift of the Magi,” “Beowulf,” “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” “The Lottery,” “The Things They Carried.” etc.

I need more hours in the day.

—>side note. I’m really tired of freshmen telling me that “they read that story last year.”One of the problems of teaching in a Catholic school, I guess, is that it’s nearly impossible to align the curriculum. Ah well.

Ok, I should get to work on…something. Toodles.

Autumn’s here

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And so a new header to celebrate!

I swear I had something more to say…

Oh, yeah. Homecoming week at school. Today was “dress like a rock star day,” as some of you are aware (those who follow me on facebook, anyway). I decided to try and approximate Pat Benatar. I really should have taken a picture. 😉

And in other news, still busy. Still haven’t uploaded the photos from my camera. Ummm…

Entourage is much more awesome than I ever thought possible.

Also, Glee! I am not up-to-date, but they are saved on the TiVo. Awesome. 🙂 I’ll catch up  one of these days, and then we can talk..

Cover me

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So I final got around to reading this post at Mental Floss, featuring some of the author’s favorite cover versions of various songs. I found that I was familiar with (and a fan of) most of them…but I thought I’d share some of my faves that didn’t make that list.

Here’s Travis doing Britney’s “Baby One More Time”

Here’s a Ben Folds cover of a Dr. Dre song…really, really NSFW, so click this link with care!

And finally, Jonathan Coulton does “Baby Got Back”:

I know there are others…but what are your favorites? 🙂

Show a little compassion

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…why don’t you show
a little compassion for Michael Jackson
the poor guy never had a chance
of being normal…

in lieu of actually trying to say something about Michael Jackson’s death, I give you a live performance of F. People by Ookla the Mok.

And a link to what Andrew Sullivan had to say.

All about me (AV edition)

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As seen on the blog of miss_shortskirt:

I think the best shows on TV right now are

Lost
How I Met Your Mother
Chuck

I think the best show(s) NOT on TV is (are)

The West Wing
Arrested Development

Shows I think I would like but haven’t watched yet are

Castle
Dollhouse

The show I am most anticipating is

Glee (oh, yes! me too!)

My go-to movies for repeat viewings are

When Harry Met Sally
Say Anything
The Princess Bride

I will watch any movie starring

Paul Rudd

I will listen to any CD by

Um…Ookla the Mok? (hee)
Carbon Leaf
Great Big Sea
Hawksley Workman
Ron Hawkins

My favorite musical soundtracks are

Rent
Les Miserables
Jesus Christ Superstar

My favorite Beatles song

Let it Be
or Come Together

My favorite Regina Spektor song

(Sorry, I don’t know who that is)

My favorite Weezer song

Uh….Buddy Holly? I’m actually not all that intimate with Weezer.

*ETA* Just realized that “Island in the Sun” comes up in my Pandora station all the time. I <3 that song.

My favorite Simon and Garfunkel song

Kathy’s Song

My favorite Britney Spears song

Sorry, got nothin’ here

My favorite movie soundtracks

Garden State
Juno
Moulin Rouge
**can’t really argue with those, but I will add:
Once
and also, Walk Hard (the Dewey Cox Story)

My favorite Disney movie

HOW CAN I POSSIBLY CHOOSE?
Um.
The Little Mermaid.
No, The Lion King.
No, Beauty and the Beast.
No, Aladdin.
Definitely one of those. 😉

My favorite song from a Disney Movie

Friend Like Me
or Kiss the Girl
or Under the Sea

My favorite songs at this exact moment are

Pregnant Women are Smug
The Future Soon
Cold, Cold Heart
Short Skirt, Long Jacket

The Farnsworth Invention

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farnsworth

I remember back a few years ago, when I first heard that Aaron Sorkin was working on a project (at the time, it was going to be a movie) about the guy who invented TV. I thought, “Hmmm…really?”

Then it kind of went away. I didn’t really think about it again until a couple of months ago, when I picked up one of those free “things to do” weekly tabloids that was lying around, and I saw that the Kavinoky Theater would be staging The Farnsworth Invention this May. Even though I was initially skeptical about the concept, I am enough of a Sorkin fangirl that I knew I would have to see it.

Fortunately for me, Rand feels the same way, so I didn’t have to convince or drag him along! We saw it last week, and it was utterly and completely fantastic.

Rather than recount the plot, I will give you this description (from the Kavinoky webpage):

It’s 1929. Two ambitious visionaries race against each other to invent a device called “television.” Separated by two thousand miles, each knows that if he stops working, even for a moment, the other will gain the edge. Who will unlock the key to the greatest innovation of the 20th century: the ruthless media mogul or the self-taught Idaho farmboy? The answer comes to compelling life in THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION, the new play from Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing.

(aside–I started this post nearly a week ago)

The dialogue was as snappy and playful as I’ve come to expect from Sorkin. No, they didn’t really do the whole “walk and talk” thing (which was actually Rob Reiner’s idea anyway), and Gilbert and Sullivan didn’t make a single appearance. 😉 There were a couple of moments that we’ve seen before–the one (where I assume this whole idea came from) from Sports Night where William H. Macy talked about Philo Farnsworth’s brother-in-law learning how to blow glass so he could help, and another from The West Wing that had to do with space exploration.

The story isn’t 100% factually accurate. Some details are tweaked and adjusted to suit the dramatic structure of the play, and I’m fine with that.

And yes, in fact, I did cry. Sorkin has a way of doing that to me. See: every episode in the first season of The West Wing.

All of the actors did a beautiful job with their roles. This was my first time at the Kavinoky (despite having been a student at D’Youville, AND being married to a guy who happens to work there), and I loved the intimate setting.

The Farnsworth Invention is running for another week (through May 31), and I highly recommend it, if you’re so inclined.

Oh! And they apparently loved doing Sorkin so much that A Few Good Men is on next season’s schedule. YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH. 😉

Clicky: The Kavinoky Theatre (for more info)