The Day Stereogum Nation Jumped The Shark

Ra Ra Riot and Ra Ra Rasputin are both playing in D.C. tonight. Sometimes I hate indie rock.

UPDATE: Here are some other bands that The G and I would consider playing keytar for:

• Ra Ra Ra No
• Ra Ra Rhino
• Ra Ra Ra Rambo
• Ra Ra Ra Randolph Macon College
• Ra Ra Ra Randy Quaid
• Ra Ra Random Hook Up
• Ra Ra Roid Rage
• Ra Ra Right Brain
• Ra Ra Right Click
• i can has ra ra?
• LOLRas
• She Ra Ra Ra
• Quiet Ra Ra Riot
• QueensRarararyche

My Favorite Things On The Internets This Week

1. Snoop Dogg's video for "Sensual Seduction." I saw this on MTV right before I left for work on Wednesday morning, and nearly started hyperventilating. Thankfully, the tubes were there for me so I can make sure nobody goes a minute more without seeing the most amazing music video since "Thriller."

2. The 8 year old twins who invented wedgie-proof underwear. It's funny, then it's sad, then it's all Fox newsy. If they were older and ended up with hot babes on their arms, this is the stuff episodes of Saved By The Bell were made of.

3. These guys.

Retro IMing

Catherine and I got back to our e-friend roots and spent this evening IMing while we watched at tv show. Since Veronica Mars isn't on anymore, our subject was Gossip Girl. There were lots of caps, lots of lol-speak, and... yeah, mostly those two things. To recap our shared thoughts, and if you're not watching this show, or didn't see the phenomenal Thanksgiving episode, you missed:

• Flashbacks
• Montages
• ODing/attempted suicide
• Gay parents/divorce
• Broken families awkwardly, painfully struggling to celebrate a holiday
  
• Enough substance abuse to stuff a turkey
  
• Parents revealing to their children who are dating that they used to date. And other awkward situations that resulted from that same scenario. My gf can has been my sister! ZOMG!
  
• Children suffering their parents' sins
• Heaping helpings of brooding
• Skinny people eating fattening food
• Or binging on them, and purging. (Eating disorder! This hasn't been a teen drama topic since the 90s! YAY!)
• The largest collection of the shiniest hair ever concentrated in one single television program
  
• A Dawson's Creek-esque spin out shot at the end
• A FAMILY FOOTBALL GAME

And so much more. In short, the single greatest hour of television EVAR. This is soap opera GOLD people. Gold.

XOXO,
blogsip girl

Chicken and Fried Rice

A) Has anyone else heard this song about mambo sauce (probably on WPGC or WKYS)? No, not the "Welcome to DC" song by the group called Mambo Sauce (which I actually kind of like), but the rap about chicken and fried rice in mambo sauce?

B) Is this song:

1. Awesome
2. Awful
3. Equal parts awesome and awful
4. Shut up Amanda

The Essence of Mike Coleman

"I have decided that I will not be bringing home the future mrs ex Mike Coleman from Europe though. I feel like there are too many American women deserving of my talents.
I am feeling patriotic lately."

You know what?

Fuck this. I am sick and tired of screw ups breaking into people's homes and shooting them. What the HELL world? I am (thisclose) to becoming a vigilante. A non-violent vigilante. They'll never know what hit 'em.

The news about Sean Taylor doesn't seem good, so let's all wish him a speedy recovery. But seriously. Fuck this.

Already?

I saw someone with a MCLOVIN license plate. I can't even begin to imagine the speed with which he high tailed it out of the theater, and straight to the DMV, to be the first person to claim the latest pop culture phrase for his car's identity. Also, he was middle-aged.

So, who among you has thrown up at DC9 before?

Let me rephrase -- who among you has thrown up at DC9, completely unrelated to alcohol? I can now count myself in that crowd, since last night whatever bad thing I ate (I think it was some papa john's pizza) decided to activate its poison while I was out. Gross. After a truly terrible night of being sick, I've now successfully held down popsicles, gatorade, saltines and club soda. So I think I'm on the mend.

Don't forget to ROUTE FOR THE HOOS TODAY! Gobble up those damn turkeys!

The Spirit of Thanksgiving

The G and I have a theory that we exist on two separate planes that only overlap occasionally. Because, we're often in the same place, but never see each other. Last night, when the bloggetariat was celebrating Thanksgiving Eve at the Black Cat, I suspect that our planes separated, at around 12:35 a.m. We were all standing around, chatting, no talk of exits anywhere. I saw a friend of mine sitting in a nearby booth, and went to say hello. We chatted for 3, maybe 4, minutes, and when I turned around, POOF! The temporary overlap ceased, and every one of the dozen or so people I was there with had vanished. I went outside to see if they were smoking? Nope. Went back inside to see if I'd temporarily lost my sense of sight? Negative. Suddenly without anybody's couch to crash on, I jumped in a cab and headed back home to VA. Also, I had the meanest cabbie ever who made me question my faith in humanity.

This morning, the wonderful Mike Coleman, ex-roommate hall of fame member, volunteered to give me a ride to my fresh-from-the-shop VW in DC. I was very thankful. We have a nice little chat, it's a beautiful and bizarrely balmy day. I get to my whip, hop in, put on my shades and roll down the window. As I'm waiting for a break in traffic so I can pull out, a wind stirs some fall foliage around in the air, and an acorn on a mission flies into my window at about 30mph, and hits me with the force of a fist, squarely in the right sunglass lens.

So today, on this fine Thanksgiving 2007, I am thankful for the Tom-Cruise-inspired wayfarer knockoffs I got for $6 at Wave One in Stone Harbor over labor day weekend (when everything must have gone), because they saved me from being blinded by a rogue and very aggressive acorn.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

While I Wasn't Looking

Heroes got good again! I caught up on the past 3 weeks' episodes last night and, hey! It was actually interesting! The plot moved forward! I didn't know they knew how to do that anymore. Good on ya, Heroes.

Also: Slapsgiving. Let the lesson from this hilarious episode be: more Marshall. Please, always more Marshall on HIMYM.

All I Want for Christmas Thanksgiving

Is an animated gif of Tony Romo getting hit in the face mask by that bad snap yesterday. Or even a photo. I can't seem to find any internet evidence of that moment.

Jayne McGowan, 1981-2007

As most people know by now, Jayne McGowan, one of my close friends, sorority sisters, and a college roomate, was killed this weekend. The circumstances around the murder are laid out well here and here. The investigation is ongoing, and all I can do is hope they catch her killer.

Jayne was a really special woman. Using the past tense around her name is still really hard for me to do. She was genuinely kind and caring -- she loved her family and her friends and being around people more than anyone I've ever known. She had an infectious giggle like nothing you've ever heard before. And big sparkly blue eyes. She was really good at eskimo kisses. And she said "Hi!" in a very unique, happy, high pitched way. Jayne loved watching movies on HBO -- not really caring what they were. I have distinct memories of coming home from class most days and finding her watching some ridiculous looking thing, and not being able to tell you what it was called, but being really into it. Insignificant stuff like this is all I can seem to conjur up right now. She jumped up and down a lot when she was happy. She really liked beer, but couldn't burp. And woo-woos. She loved woo-woos, ever since she learned how to make them in bartending class. She bought me a woo-woo at my birthday party this past August, which she drove up from Charlottesville to come to.

She was always there for her friends when they were going through something, and she knew how to reach out and lean on people too. We had many a serious discussion about life and love and womanhood over snacks in the kitchen at Tunlaw. She built incredible networks of people all around her -- from her elementary and high school friends from upstate New York to all the people she knew through her millions of activities at UVA to all her coworkers and friends she met up in D.C. She was just starting to add another group to that web, with her new life back in Charlottesville, when she was taken away. To say that she's going to be missed would be an incredible understatement.

If you'd like to join us in honoring Jayne's memory, you're welcome to any of the following events. Get in touch with me for more information.

Tuesday, 11/13: Informal Vigil. 7-10 p.m., Clarendon, VA

Wednesday, 11/14: Calling Hours, 4-8 p.m., Fayetteville, NY
Thursday, 11/15: Funeral, 10:30 a.m., Fayetteville, NY

UPDATE: Two men have been arrested in connection with Jayne's murder.

No I don't have ADD. Why would you ask me that?

me: i've been big on casseroles lately
also: pencils
erasing is so liberating
YES!
my iPod chose "Rich Girl"!
the G: hahahaha
me: wow, that has got to be one of the most ADD strings of all time
the G: i totally followed it

Great Ceasar's Ghost!

I hope Pitchfork has a good enough sense of humor to actually post the results of this. Good googamooga are those gonna be some hefty responses. I'm hoping for an entire section devoted to Travis Morrison.

Hello, Lovers

I just fell in love. With three coats from Urban Outfitters. Please weigh in in the comments with which one you like best.

Lover #1

Lover #2

Lover #3

The Writers' Strike

As a consumer of many many tv shows, sure, the writer's strike sucks. But it's also completely valid. If you're looking for some really basic explanations of what it's all about and what it means, read Jenna Fisher's blog about it, and her (former) husband's. The video from the picket line at The Office is pretty great too. And how can you help the strike? Have sex with a striking writer, says James Gunn. And, because a fight about new media wouldn't be complete without some new media of its own, Variety's got a WGA Strike Blog going with daily updates. If you link back to me, I'll expect to receive my risiduals check in the mail soon. Or else I'll go on strike. Then, probably, blog about it later.

Oh hai

So: new gmail features. They're good! I approve! But why is gmail running so damn slow this week? Have others noticed this?

In other news, this is infuriating. I must have missed the memo that we stopped raising children to be human beings and started using schools to form robot armies.

Hi and Bye

I've been tasked with coming up with the best, most creative idea I've ever had, by tomorrow. For our company's biggest client. So, you won't be seeing much of me for a little bit. In the mean time, let me just leave you with this message, brought to you by my favorite human being: read a book.

Also, from the mind of LSG:

lindsay: oh NO

rick is like: Ricky

Mark is like: Kevin

Makes perfect sense, no?

Well played, Joey

Katie Holmes looks stunning in this dress.

Unrelated: If you're planning on getting a flu shot, beware: a massive headache is in your future. Becky warned me yesterday evening that everyone in her office had a bad headache following the shot, and a few hours later I was in the fetal position hoping against hope to pass out so my noggin would stop aching. But, today I'm all better. One night of headache is better than any amount of flu, so I think it's a fair trade.

Also, I made shepherd's pie last night. And it was really really good. As far as cold weather comfort food goes, that's right near the top of my list. Beef, corn, mashed potatoes in one simple casserole? Yes please.

My office is really messy. I need to do something about that.

Several days late: go check out my review of Ryan Adams' show at DAR Tuesday night. C'est Bon.

How To Abuse a Metaphor

Probably my favorite installment ever from Jezebel's Crap Email series. I laughed out loud -- really loud -- about halfway through. You'll know the line when you get there.

UPDATE: I made a visual aid

The Present



The Future



Also: I couldn't agree more with DCeiver's Facebook Rules.