i watched 'bad education' a few nights ago - i think i never saw it when it was in theatres because of a bad review in the voice. i think i was also really turned off by the promo photos of gael garcia bernal in drag - it seemed to be a campy drag queen movie mixed with a pedophilic priest tragedy, and who wants to see that?

what a mistake - the movie was as good as anything almodovar has done. i love how he really revels in colors in his choice of costumes and sets, even when the tone and mood are fairly somber (see 'all about my mother'). also gael garcia bernal can really act (and is really HOT).

my method of reading reviews and making decisions goes thus: i skim the times, the new yorker, the village voice and formulate an average from the three. awhile ago steve and i were talking about who the best film reviews are - i like a.o., manohla, kenneth turan, but anthony lane is a master of film criticism. from one of my favorite reviews, of revenge of the sith:

No, the one who gets me is Yoda. May I take the opportunity to enter a brief plea in favor of his extermination? Any educated moviegoer would know what to do, having watched that helpful sequence in “Gremlins” when a small, sage-colored beastie is fed into an electric blender. A fittingly frantic end, I feel, for the faux-pensive stillness on which the Yoda legend has hung. At one point in the new film, he assumes the role of cosmic shrink—squatting opposite Anakin in a noirish room, where the light bleeds sideways through slatted blinds. Anakin keeps having problems with his dark side, in the way that you or I might suffer from tennis elbow, but Yoda, whose reptilian smugness we have been encouraged to mistake for wisdom, has the answer. “Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose,” he says. Hold on, Kermit, run that past me one more time. If you ever got laid (admittedly a long shot, unless we can dig you up some undiscerning alien hottie with a name like Jar Jar Gabor), and spawned a brood of Yodettes, are you saying that you’d leave them behind at the first sniff of danger? Also, while we’re here, what’s with the screwy syntax? Deepest mind in the galaxy, apparently, and you still express yourself like a day-tripper with a dog-eared phrase book. “I hope right you are.” Break me a fucking give.

papabasco came to eat lunch at work today with my sister. he ate grilled wild salmon, a goji-blackberry smoothie, a plum, green beans and some salad. later we passed by a fridge where he stared at the perrier on the top shelf.

"perrier," he said. "there's no flavor. it tastes just like water. in paris, that's all anyone drinks. but, i'll tell you what - it gives you gas."

it sure does, dad, it sure does.

RUN. DON'T WALK. (at the castro in sept)

IS EVERYONE IN LAW SCHOOL?
i want to do a u.s. tour and visit everyone across the country, and then write a bernard-henri levy-like essay about the modern u.s. OR a hunter s. thompson-like hallucination. or an 'on the road' style tour of freight cars and diner apple pies and vanilla ice creams.

cmon, people, grad school is SO 2004. HAHAHAHAHA

wedding countdown - 11 days. anyone have any wedding speech tips?

ahhh, pretty good list of things you gotta do before you can call yourself a new yorker (from time out ny, via nina). i used to order my morning coffee from my friendly coffee cart on 114th street, saying 'coffee, light' (w/milk and sugar) - which is probably why i am on the verge of cavities!! anyways, who else misses new york???!?!

my dad's photos are going to be exhibited at the sf main library in sept and oct! check it out, it's free

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tried a country building game from melanie's blog. there's something vaugely carmen sandiego-esque about this, and i am excited to no end.

The Most Serene Republic of Macabascolia
"Love it or leave it"

UN Category: Democratic Socialists
Civil Rights: Excellent
Economy: Basket Case
Political Freedoms: Excellent
Location: the South Pacific

Regional Influence: Minnow

The Most Serene Republic of Macabascolia is a tiny, socially progressive nation, notable for its punitive income tax rates. Its hard-nosed, intelligent population of 5 million are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, socially-minded government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Social Welfare, Healthcare, and Education. The average income tax rate is 57%, and even higher for the wealthy. Private enterprise is illegal, but for those in the know there is a slick and highly efficient black market in Woodchip Exports.

Crime is totally unknown, thanks to a well-funded police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Macabascolia's national animal is the yak, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the mack.

SILKY COCOA BUTTER SKIN

WHAT'S UP WITH MICHEL GONDRY AND BIG HANDS?

omg i can't wait for this movie - what great casting!

the site is really cool, too -
also, you have got to see steve do the 'pretend you have big hands' dance.

YEP


the most difficult part of blogging is the pressure to write around a single theme, in an essay-like manner. i'm going to experiment a little bit and abandon that quest today. i had a dream this weekend that rj got the job he is applying for. i like routines, and then i like to break out and find a completely different routine. i've been running four days a week because my doctor said three days wasn't good enough. i had the most delicious curry-rubbed butterfish for lunch today, cooked perfectly. when i can't find mp3s on limewire, i use elbo.ws. i miss robot because now there is no one to compile the lisa zeitgeist. i'm toying with the theory that we gravitate towards personalities opposite of those who we're mostly surrounded with at work. the hot middle of summer has passed, and i have gone back to wearing pants to work. i'm really obsessed with target's GO international but have only bought one thing so far from all three lines. i think this photo of susan sontag is the coolest author photo ever. we're going to see phoenix at slim's next month!

how right wingers read the ny times

Stick Figures in Peril
here is my own humble offering:



from this article about korea's 'phallus garden' (and, apparently, asians ARE sexually repressed, according to jin and steve).

ARF
i think there is some confusion about the 'wet dog' remark i posted earlier this month. i first heard about it here in this really amusing 'fresh air' interview with a black writer on the show 'scrubs' - listen to the whole thing if you are a scrubs fan, or start at minute 6 to hear the bit about how black people think white people smell like wet dog. apparently there is also a book about this phenomenon?!? i wonder what asian people smell like...besides mothballs (ali wong's joke).

Most Used Cliches in the Media

I WONDER WHO MY INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE IS

INSPIRED BY CHAI
been watching britain's next top model season 2 on youtube...

death cab @ the greek

what a great show!

WHAT KIND OF ASSHOLE DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO NOT LIKE 'LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE'?

after months of not going out and seeing any movies, i have been to the cinema three times in three weeks to see three times, lil miss sunshine and miami vice. i have not really liked or enjoyed any of them, sadly. and i know everyone's blog is blowing up about how great little miss sunshine was, but maybe i was just expecting more since it got such hype from the critics. maybe i'm in an anti-movie mood. maybe i just like being contrary.

luckily, i have season 1 of project runway on dvd to integrate into my post-work routine (thanks, chai). i've never seen the first half of season 1, and i'm getting real nostalgic with some of the places they go - the gristedes near 72th street (that i used to go to and comparison shop with the fairway that's practically next door) is where they go in the first episode to buy their corn husks and 30 van dam where they sell their 'envy' cotton wares is where i went to look for bethany's rad fly earrings last year.

i am fulfilling my indie rock destiny and going to see death cab/spoon/mates of state at the greek tomorrow. WITH STEVE, which is even more disgusting, since it is like the perfect indie rock couples show. YUCK! anyways i'm really looking forward to it though, they're one of my favorite bands.

WHY I WANT TO WORK FOR CONDE NAST...CAFETERIA
'I'm Feeling Sassy!'

The other day, Lowdown found the following written exchanges on an official comment board while visiting the fourth-floor cafeteria in Condé Nast's Times Square headquarters:

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"Trisha" asked for "a jelly w/no sugar added and brown rice for sushi," and went on: "Can you order more diet root beer ... and more vanilla low-cal yogurt?" The cafeteria's typed answer: "Yes we will order these things ... just as soon as we change the cafe into a Health Food Store."

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Another customer requested "raspberries and blackberries @ the fruit table." The cafeteria's response: "You can sit and patiently wait for the Farmers Market."

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"Nicole" wrote: "Why are we always out of crackers??" The cafeteria's answer: "You're right, we being too generous with giving them out for free!! What are we thinking?"

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"Russell" asked: "How about a BLT station for the summer? Wheat toast, hickory smoked bacon, the whole nine yards!" The cafeteria's response: "How about you order a BLT from the Sandwich Station?"

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Another employee requested: "Make more frittata in the morning please!!!" The cafeteria retorted: "We have frittata everyday until 10:30. On another note I know a great eye doctor."

I WANT SCHOOL KIDS ON BUSES SINGING YOUR NAME
you know that song 'emily kane' by art brut? there is someone with that exact name here at work - and i was maybe going to ask if she knew there was a song written about her. but then i met her and she wears PEARLS, total wendy wellesley. makes me giggle.

robot, YOUR NEW IDOL.

ANYONE KNOW ANY ITALIAN MEN? hahahah

'meanwhile...' says emily