I Want This

It's Called The Vino IV, and Intravenous Inebriation tool that serves as both a lamp, a work of art and a wine dispenser.

What more could you ask for?

Happy Friday

Yeesh....

Since there wasn't a real explanation as to where the cheeseburger and fries were kept for four years, I'm not convinced that what is portrayed on the video is on the up-and-up. However, it makes you think.....what kinds of weird and harmful preservatives are McDonald's using to keep their food from breaking down?

Tonight

BRMC @ The Pageant. Be there. I will.

Oh Jillian...

I love it when you yell at me. Shred - level 3. Ouchy.

Nestle = orangutan fingers

Lots of chatter late last week, which continues, about the social media mistakes Nestle made recently on Facebook. They responded to their "fans" in a less-than engaging way (i.e. snarky) in response to reports that they're partnering with companies who slaughter orangutans while destroying the rainforests in order to harvest palm oil.

This is an anti-Nestle video Greenpeace produced which plays on the "Give Me A Break - KitKat" commercials. Clever. While I don't use any of Nestle's products currently, I may not until they make some changes in their harvest practices - and also learn how to better manage their social media endeavors...

Have a break? from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

Family

My favorite uncle Eric lost his father last week.

Due to extenuating circumstances, he was prevented from saying a last goodbye while his father was still alive.

So today, the day of his funeral, will have to suffice. Which just isn't right.

Some people just suck.

This will be a difficult day for many of my family members. I hope everything goes okay.

Still love...

...this movie.

This is how I feel on most days...

We used to play this in high school band - best song to march to ever. Seriously. And it really got the crowd going at b-ball games:


Velouria is my second favorite, after this one...


Wish I could have seen them live...

Talent

My friend Curtis Almeter takes the most amazing photos - very artistic and eclectic. Check out his portfolio.

Sinewave synthesizer

This is fun! Create your own original music in a tetris-like format. Takes 20 seconds...enjoy!

BRMC

This song review in the RFT was interesting to read - I think the song's a bit sinister also. I also think that The White Stripes could have done it better.

Movies

It's Monday and I'm still mourning the loss of one-half of the Coreys.

Saw a shiteous movie this weekend. As many of you know, I'm a sucker for horror movies - I'll see anything once.

Rented "Cabin Fever 2 - Spring Fever". THE WORST MOVIE EVER MADE.

Seriously. Worse than those really bad 70's horror flicks where you can barely see anything because it's shot with the worst lighting ever.

Worse than Ishtar. Worse than Showgirls. Worse than any friend's vacation videos - yes, it's that bad.

I liked the original. Eli Roth did a nice job representing the genre. He obviously was no way involved with the sequel.

Tripe. Terrible special effects. Maybe it was a rural student film made by halfwits?

I also saw "Alice In Wonderland" by Tim Burton. Bah. Not a favorite. Good special effects (much better than Cabin Fever...hehe), but Johnny Depp drove me insane. I know he was playing a character, but it wasn't a new one - it's like he molded a few of his previous characters, plus threw in Mel Gibson's Braveheart performance (and accent) in when he needed it. Discombobulated and disconnected. Yes, he played a Mad Hatter, but it was too disjointed of a performance.

Here's the trailer for CF2 - I dare you to waste the money...

Hey Jack Kerouac....

...happy birthday.

His 30 essentials of Spontaneous Prose:
1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for your own joy
2. Submissive to everything, open, listening
3. Try never get drunk outside your own house
4. Be in love with your life
5. Something that you feel will find its own form
6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
7. Blow as deep as you want to blow
8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind
9. The unspeakable visions of the individual
10. No time for poetry but exactly what is
11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest
12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you
13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time
15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
19. Accept loss forever
20. Believe in the holy contour of life
21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind
22. Don't think of words when you stop but to see picture better
23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning
24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge
25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it
26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form
27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better
29. You're a Genius all the time
30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

Mithpellins

Find more like these here.

Sell outs?

So one of my favorite bands, The Heavy, apparently leased their song to be used for a Kia Sorento car commercial.

It's an interesting concept - toys imagine themselves being bad-asses while listening to "How You Like Me Now?". The red nubby toy looks like a dildo with personality. I love how the sock monkey gets a stitched-on tattoo. Rad.

However, it's kind of ruined the song for me. Why? Because I have my own scenario that plays in my head when I hear the song.

Now my scenario is invaded by backseat renegade toys. That is not cool. And no, I can't control it - I try not to think about it, but the sock monkey keeps popping up in my ultra-cool personal scenario.

Don't get me wrong - I dig me some sock monkey. But on my own time. Yeah, I have control issues...

Here's the Kia spot, below that the Heavy Letterman appearance.

Thoughts

So.

Another Hollywood child actor OD'd.

Growing up, I thought Corey Haim was totally cute. "The Lost Boys" was one of my favorite films. "Drean A Little Dream" was not.

Sad that it had to end this way. Kinda saw it coming when he appeared on the reality show "The Two Corey's".

One of my best childhood friends is a drug addict. I would describe her situation as severe. It's gotten to a point, over the last couple of years, that when her husband calls me, I expect to hear that she's died. OD'd. Wrecked her car. She's already done both in the past, so it would be a not-surprising bit of news to get.

It's beyond weird to have a friend, and such an old and dear friend, who is an addict. And it sucks.

I've gone through the stages - denial, anger, bargaining, sadness. I am at the point where I accept her current state - there's nothing I can do. She has to want to make the change for herself.

But at this point, I doubt she can. So many years of drug abuse have altered her brain chemistry - she is not the same person I once knew, and her personality, decision-making ability and character have changed dramatically. When I went to visit her a couple of years ago, it was very evident that the sweet-natured, resplendent soul that helped get me through my turbulent teen years was missing. She had turned into a figidity, doped-up mess.

There's no going back for her - she can either stop what she's doing and live in her present state of mind, or continue to get worse.

I've accepted the fact that she's probably not going to make it - I'm actually very surprised that she's still living at all, considering the damage she does to herself and the chaos that rules her life. But I can't say I want to see her again - it was really difficult the last time, and I'm not sure I want that present in my life.

But, I care about her and love her because even though she is a different person now, to me she will always be my friend.

OK GO

Lurve this video - happy Friday:

TIGAF

Class was...well, class. Glad that presentation is over. On to the next one. I am enjoying my Grief Therapy class (funny, but yes, learing about grief can be enjoyable with the right professor), but Appraisal of the Individual is just plain wackadoo. Not what I expected at all...to quote some random film somewhere, "Nobody said there'd be any math on this exam". As my closest friends and family know, I can start a fire using flint and twigs better than I can deal with fractions. The government knows this also, as they had to adjust my tax return this year and give me MORE money than I had calculated. Small miracles...

Just finished a monster Tive catch-up session, and feel the better for it. Some highlights:

- love that Pam breastfed the wrong child. Laughed out loud...hard.

- "Quite a collection you've got going". Halloween decorations - who knew? Laughed very loud - love, love, love Modern Family. Makes me want a modern family of my own.

- "Countless..." Priceless.

- I've been to Orange County. I believe the show to be very accurate.

The weekend is looking good. Mama needs a new pair of jeans, so I'll be escorting her to the (shudder) mall. The good thing is, we always have fun, and she will only buy bootcut, cool, non-mom jeans. She's hip like that, because that's how we Dakota-women roll.

Other items on the agenda: study group, Cherokee with a friend, Jimmy's and Celebrate Fitness. All good things, good times, and good people.

Throw in some sun and warmth, and I'm looking at a genuine pre-Spring weekend.

I am jonesing to see the following movies - may try to squeeze in some viewing this weekend:

Stepchild mentality

My good friend J summed up quiet nicely the overall self-loathing/self-important attitude that many people in St. Louis exhibit. His take is the people of St. Louis want to feel & live the big-city mentality, but as they constantly compare themselves to thriving creative meccas like Chicago and Minneapolis, they feel like they fall short. Therefore, they attempt to bolster their egos with self-importance and the result is judgement and meanness. J moved to St. Louis 10 years ago from Chicago, so he's gotten to experience these attitudes first-hand.

I come from a small town that resides in an even smaller state (population-wise), and while I've been to NYC, Minneapolis and Chicago, St. Louis is "big city" to me. It's as big as I need it to be - most of the quirkier films get showed here, there is a tremendous amount of worldly cuisine to be had, the music scene isn't bad, and I can get my fill of city-life and travel about 20 minutes to experience the quiet lull of the country when I need to.

I have also experienced the meanness that J speaks of - and I believe that, for some people, it stems from that big-city comparison. I do think it's an attempt to make up for the insignificance they feel.

We cannot compare ourselves to Chicago, any less than Chicago can compare itself to NYC. We all offer different things to different people, some more than others. I'm not sure why we can't be satisfied with what we are, which is a large midwestern metropolis that's grown tremendously from what it used to be even 20 years ago. And I know this as I moved here 20 years ago.

Let's break this down to what has changed/grown in the last 20 years:

1. We now have newer neighbrhoods in the city that, while they've always been there, are now inhabited and thriving - The Grove, Lafayette Square, Benton Park are a few that immediately come to mind.

2. Our dining options have quintupled (probably more) - we've got some of the best fusion, burger bars, tapas, and international restaurants in the midwest. The Vine, Aya Sofia, Modesto, Sub Zero, Everest to name a few...

3. Our melting pot is overflowing - we have the largest Bosnian populations in the country, and they've proven to be very good neighbors in my book. And let's not discount the growing population of hispanics, Vietnamese, Koreans, Africans, and South Americans. I know I'm leaving many out...

4. The Loft district - even though it's somewhat stilted now due to the economic debacle, the downtown area is much more populated than 20 years ago, which makes for a somewhat safer downtown (safety in numbers and all that).

That all said, I wish some folks who find it necessary to let out the rude would reel it back in. Everytime I visit Chicago, NYC, KC or Memphis, there's a satisfaction and easy-going nature that exudes from it's inhabitants. People are generally friendly, laid-back and less concerned with how they measure up. Since I'm not native to St. Louis, I'm not sure what can be done at this point - perhaps it's ingrained too deeply in the psyche of the natives to let go. Glad I can say I've yet to be infected with this mentality. I'm a happier person for it.