YOU... SUCK...

Almost three weeks without internet access...

Three weeks of your lies and sick, sorry side-shows - all the while pretending like you have no control over the horrible service(s) you're charging for.

You know what you did.

BIRDHOUSE IN YOUR SOUL

Not to put too-fine a point on it, say I'm the only bee in your bonnet!

I've been catching up on the final episodes of one of my favorite (and now-canceled) programs, Pushing Daisies ... and I got so swept away with the beauty, romance and general wonder of the show that I went and downloaded the Season One Soundtrack.

Its made up mostly of instrumental music - music that won an Emmy, by the way - but there are a few vocal tracks that make it all worth while. One such track is Ellen Greene (formerly of Little Shop of Horrors, to name one) and Kristin Chenoweth (of Wicked, to name another) covering They Might Be Giants' "Birdhouse In Your Soul."

I love the original version well enough, but this new version absolutely swept me off my feet. Here's the video:



And here are some screencaptures I took of the DVD, using an amazing new application called Snap'n'Drag:

The second season comes out on DVD next month, and I can't wait!

Make a little birdhouse in your soul!

BACK IN THE "WEEDS"

One of my favorite shows, Weeds returns this month, kicking off a fifth season on Showtime. If you're like me - you love Mary-Louise Parker, but only have the cheap-o, basic cable package... there are other options. Cheap ones, if you know where to look. And not all of them are illegal.

For example, if you go to the iTunes Store, specifically to the Podcast section, you'll see they're giving away a free copy of the first episode of the season. Granted they're only doing this to hook you on the expensive premium cable package, and the podcast version is "edited" and "toned down" ... but it really is worth checking out.

And hey... it's free.


The Official Showtime Weeds Site here.
The Weeds Wikipedia page here.

HAPPY PRIDE WEEKEND, MARY!

Or as my gal-pal Marissa Jaret Winokur (Facebook here) used to say, "Happy Gay Day!"

ACCORDING TO FACEBOOK...

I took another one of those quiz-things over on the Facebook. It was the "Which Dead Celebrity Are You?" Quiz. Once again, I managed to overlook the horrible grammar and spelling employed by the person who put this quiz together, and just tried to answer the questions as honestly as I could.

And according to Facebook, the dead celebrity I'm most like is: Marilyn Monroe.

WHAT-EV-ERRRR

A while back (and we're talking a long time ago), I wrote a short diatribe about the way political winds were blowing (here). It wasn't a rant, really... I was just expressing my frustration with Neo-Cons and their evil talking-head pundits.

This was almost three (count 'em, three) years ago. I've since learned to just ignore blowhards like Glen Beck and Ann Coulter and go about my business.

But someone had to come along and comment on that old post:


OK, so first of all, I enabled anonymous comments on this blog to allow people who don't have G-mail (or other access granting accounts) the option to give some feedback... not so right-wing, KKK nut-jobs could have a go at me. And to top it all off... I totally don't understand what it is they are trying to say!

To the grade-A moron who just had to comment, but didn't have the balls to sign their name: I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK ANYWAY. You obviously don't have the courage (or brains) to back up your convictions, so you can just rot in hell with President Bush, VP Cheney and all the other Republicunts!

I MISS YOU ALREADY

800

This is my 800th post. Normally, I would make a fancy graphic for it (like here, or here), but I'm on vacation. Thanks to my fans (all six of you) for the love and support.

And if you're one of those people who checks in from time-to-time, but never comments... well, you're OK, too.

TREK THIS!

Now that school has ended (until August), I've been meaning to catch up on a few things... first, let's chat about how great Star Trek turned out to be. OK, so I've already talked about it (here). And as you'll recall, I posted some behind-the-scene photos from the movie on my site here.

But I never showed the finished product, after much CGI work:
That's the library from the school I'm attending (left), moved to San Francisco thanks to a little industrial magic (the generic kind, not the trademarked George Lucas, "My Scripts Suck, But Check Out These FX" kind). Oh, and they modified the shape of the building a tad.

If you get the chance, check this flick out. I like it so much I saw it twice (and even paid for it the second time).

I KNOW WE ALL LOOK ALIKE BUT...

I received a letter from the Texas Attorney General's office (above) stating they "had my new address" and if I wanted to get my child support checks on time, I should notify them in advance of moving.

Now, a closer look at the letter shows it was addressed to Juan Jose Garcia... not me. Oh, and I've never lived in Texas, and don't have any children requiring child support payments.

After an unanswered email, and a few phone calls, a supervisor assured me this "clerical" error was now fixed. Since being "fixed" over $1700 in additional checks have arrived, bringing the total to just under $3000. Talk about your child support fraud!

Don't get me wrong... I'd love to cash these checks and hit H&M, but that would be wrong. Very wrong. So, each time a check for Juan Jose arrives, I send it back.

It had to be Texas, didn't it?!

CIRCLE OF JERKS

OK, so school is out for summer, so I've gone back to the gym. I don't have any illusions about what kind of gym I joined (white, straight, upper-middle class, conservative), I'm surprised by a couple of things I've noticed:

*the MMA Club (Mixed Martial Arts): A bunch of guys, rolling around on a mat with their head in each other's crotch, humping each legs, grunting... and what's not gay about this?

*circle jerks (not like you think, so just read on, you prude): groups of straight, muscled, tattooed guys, standing around a single machine/work out station, touching each other's muscles, showing off (and tracing with their fingers) tattoos and general guyness (grunting, touching, flexing, etc.).

I'm not going to comment any further on this, except to say, um... no, never mind.

IF ONLY...

UM... OK

SO LONG, YEAR ONE

I just took my last final, completing the first year of a two-year graduate program. I think I did alright. A mix of A's and B's. Now, I can just sit back and...

Oh crap, now what?

GREAT FOOD, GREAT SERVICE

It's no secret, I love Carl's Jr.'s Western Bacon Cheeseburger. And I love the commercial Top Chef's Padma did for them. (You can watch it here.)

What I didn't say is how much I love the music in the commercial. I sent an email to the company (via the Hardees site), asking about it. This was about a week ago. Today, I got an email from them. Turns out the song is called "Round the World" by Chris Winston featuring Aisha Francis.

Not only did they respond to my crazed-fan mail request, they did it quickly and professionally. I know the founder of Carl's Jr. is a right-wing nutjob, but kudos to his employees for the awesome food and kick-@ss customer service.

Unlike Staples (long story for another day), Carl's has a customer for life.

JUST FOR THE RECORD

I love this stuff.

Here's the groovy commercial:

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES

Every year the Los Angeles Times puts on a panel of local teens who watch and rate summer movie trailers, called The Summer Movie Posse. The Posse's past predictions have been frighteningly accurate, predicting the summer's big box office winners and losers.

I read this article every year, as I find it both entertaining and informative. But one of the panelist's comments about the new Transformers movie really made me giggle, so I had to share it.

After watching the trailer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, one panelist said "He (Michael Bay) keeps making the same movie over and over, as if he hopes someday he'll get it right." Amen to that!

And for the record, they rated the new Michael Bay movie second to last, just above Sam Rami's Drag Me To Hell.

TOO FUNNY FOR WORDS

I saw this over on Donnie's blog (here) and nearly peed my pants.

WHAT THE #@%&?

I've been a Mac die-hard customer all my life.

No, really. When I was about six or seven, my parents bought an Apple LC II. You know, the ones with the green screen, before they had a mouse? Anyway, since then I've been a loyal customer and avid defender of the Apple way of life.

But I have a bone to pick with the folks up in Cupertino... the staff in the stores. I've shopped at a number of locations (Thousand Oaks, The Grove, Simi Valley, etc.) and I've noticed that no matter the size of the store, no matter how ethnically diverse the town, the majority of the employees were of the same demographic: white teenage boys.

Not don't get me wrong. I have a taste for all things Wonderbread (just not underage, mind you). But it gets a little old, you know?

And Apple has always been one of those brands that represented diversity and inclusiveness. I mean, the original Apple logo was a freakin' rainbow apple for cryin' out loud.

sigh

YOU SAID A MOUTHFULL...

"In the past, as now, Hollywood was a stomping ground for tastelessness, violence and hyperbole, but once upon a time it turned out a product which sweetened the flavor of life all over the world."

Screenwriter, Anita Loos... who died in 1981.