Don't know why...

...but lately the BF and I have been watching more and more of BBC America. I often bitch about morning news programs and so now, once I've seen the local weather report, I tune in to the BBC for my morning news as I have my coffee and breakfast. But their programming at other times is becoming more and more interesting... once you get past the excess of Cash in the Attic. Little Britain, Bromwell High, Creature Comforts (from the folks behind Wallace and Grommit), Hyperdrive, they're all hilarious. Hex and Doctor Who, they're interesting. Maybe not enough for weekly viewing, but definitely enough for occasionally dropping in. And come this Saturday, BBC America will be broadcasting Robin Hood, with the yummy-licious Jonas Armstrong. Yes, I will be watching even more of BBC America.

BuddyCrocker feeling superior.

This sentence from a description of the penthouse suites on the Oceania cruise website made me laugh.

Watch the sun rise over a distant land as you sip the morning's first cup of freshly brewed coffee from your private teak veranda.

The misplaced prepositional phrase makes is sound as if you have to slurp the coffee off of the deck floor. Tee-hee!

Yeah, I'm watching Idol... sue me!

OMG! LaKisha Jones totally blew it out of the water!

Coolness!

Check out Future Boogie and download Jazzanova's mixed mp3's! They're great listening! Mr. Scruff and Domus aren't bad either. You can also subscribe to Future Boogie through iTunes. I'm eagerly waiting for more!

Maybe if we ignore her she'll just go away... No, let me restate. If we ignore her, maybe she'll get out of the spotlight and get her life together.

I've been no fan of Britney. I thought she was silly when she first bopped on the scene, an impression which in retrospect was as much as I liked her ever. Since her debut she's just made an ever greater fool of herself in the public eye. Now that she's failing at the Hollywood rehab game, I'm beginning to feel true pity for her. How lost is she? How hopeless has she become? Maybe if we all just left her alone, allowed her to sort her life out as much as she can, let her to find a less-demanding career away from the spotlight, then she might just be fine. Otherwise, she's well on her way to becoming an object lesson in the evils of materialism and celebrity.

Thank God!

46° F

Seen at Party Town on the UES

On sale for Passover, finger puppets depicting the plagues which God visited upon the Egyptians. You know, those innocent bystanders whom God punished when the Pharaoh refused to allow Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery. Oh, but wait a minute! Didn't God explicitly harden Pharaoh's heart and keep him from freeing the Israelites? Even after Pharaoh said that the Israelites could leave? So who was really to blame for the Israelites' continued servitude? Ah well, tomayto-tomahto. Why quibble over details when you can turn God's wrath into warm and cuddly toys for your children? I think that the boils and the "First Born" are especially good for your child's beddy-bye story!

Day at the Guggenheim

Today the BF, our neighbor Rey and I saw the Guggenheim's Spanish Painting From El Greco to Picasso. If you get a chance to see it before it's gone, check out the exhibit. The paintings are grouped thematically, showing how artists from different eras dealt with similar themes. Sometimes there's direct borrowing by the later artists from the earlier artists. Other times it's not clear whether the similarities are allusion or merely brought about by the fact that both artists are dealing with the same topic. The only downside was the crowds which were insane. Still, Rey is a museum member so we didn't have to wait in the line. Also, he's totally knowledgable about the topic so it was like having our own tour guide. Afterwards we headed over for a light dinner at Cafe Sabarsky in the Neue Gallerie. It was a perfect ending to the day.

Lunar New Year Fireworks!

Attendance called off due to bitter fuckin' cold.

White Christmas it ain't

If you had any doubt as to whether or not we're totally fucking up the environment, the snow in Siberia has been smelly, orange and oily. Yum.

Anna Nicole

She's been everything... a trailer park debutante... lap dancer... trophy wife... fat, doped up object of public fascination/censure on nationally televised display, constantly at odds with her nemesissy Bobby Trendy... drugged out on awards shows... thin again... tragic mother... and now she's gone. And tonight ABC is doing a somberly salacious review of her life. The music and graphics have a funereal sobriety worthy of a respected statesman. The reporting is, perhaps, two steps above "Bat Boy Lives." It would seem that her last months of life were truly horrible. I have no doubt but that she was deeply unhappy. And yet, why our nation is so fixated on her at a time of war is something I refuse to understand.

Terror Free Gas

Okay, so I don't know quite what to say about this, but in Omaha NE there's a small gas station selling "terror free" gas. Now, when I first saw the headline I thought it was going to be something as stupid as the "freedom fries" that were served in the Capitol and the bottles of French wine which were ceremoniously and ostentatiously poured down sewers when France wouldn't buy into our war against Iraq. However, the proprietors are buynig gasoline processed in the US and Canada in order to avoid giving money to those who possibly support terrorism. That seems admirable. Then again, they're using the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and references to Flight 93 to sell their product. This I find despicable.

Out, out, damn Spot!

Why do I bother to wash my hands? ...like, 25 times a day.

Good Cold vs Bad Cold

Good: You wear a sweater.

Bad: You wear three sweaters... plus long underwear, a scarf, two pairs of gloves, and a hat that makes you look like a Muscovite.

Good: You can pick up a frappuccino.

Bad: Whatever you pick up becomes a frappuccino after five minutes on the street.

Good: You can just see your breath.

Bad: Breathing gives you brain freeze.

Good: A powerful air conditioner.

Bad: A broken heater.

By the way...

I'm sure that most of you who check in here didn't watch the Superbowl this past weekend.

I only got as far as the opening ceremonies which included performances by Cirque de Soleil.

Even though I thought they were kind of cheesy, I loved the idea of some sort of grand celebration to open the show... sort of like the Olympics. I actually started thinking that it would be kind of cool to go to a Superbowl... someday... provided that it's in one of the host cities... and I have, like, luxury box tickets... and I sure as hell don't want to pay for it 'cause those tickets are thousands of frickin' dollars and that's just stupid!

Teaching Latin Poetry to High School Students.

It helps if you can refer to "Fergilicious."

Today's Morning-Walk-to-Work-Fun!

Frozen dog urine! Thanks to the below-freezing temperatures!

Finally saw a Movie!

I gotta get out more.

I finally got to see Dreamgirls... two months after it came out. I hate seeing movies after hearing all the hype. Was it good? Did my expectations get in the way? God knows it was lush to look at. And the vocal performances were amazing. And Beyonce clearly can do anything she wants to do. Still... I just came away feeling a bit unsatisfied. Hmmm.


Ah well. If all goes according to pattern, once it comes out on Showtime or HBO then I'll watch it, like, 20 times. And each time I'll "find a new layer" and be otherwise completely obsessed for the span of a few weeks. Whatevs.