Totally stoked

This morning I was checking my blog statistics and I found out the coolest thing. Someone got to my lil' ol' site by typing in "spy daddy" t-shirt. How cool is that? I think it's pretty f-ing cool.

There will be no more blogging until sometime next week or possibly even not until after the New Year. So, have a great holiday, dear readers. Hope Santa brings you everything you want!

I miss the Chappelle Show

I don't know how accurate, if it's accurate at all, but it's an interesting theory. Check out what some person has devised as the reason Dave quit the Chappelle Show.

I know I said I wasn't going to be all political and shit

So, lately I have been biting my tongue. I have been wanting to go off about things in Iran for a while now but I haven't because I want this blog to be about things that make me happy, like books, television, music, and movies. But I just can't bite my tongue any more. This is my blog and I will talk about whatever I want to talk about. You can't stop me. This morning on my way to work I heard about this:

Western Music Is Banned

TEHRAN, Dec. 19 (AP) - President Ahmadinejad has banned Western music from Iran's radio and television stations, reviving a cultural decree from the early days of the 1979 revolution.

Songs like George Michael's "Careless Whisper," Eric Clapton's "Rush" and the Eagles' "Hotel California" have regularly accompanied Iranian broadcasts, as do tunes by the saxophonist Kenny G.

But the official daily Iran reported Monday that Mr. Ahmadinejad, as the leader of the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, ordered the enforcement of a ruling by the council in October to ban Western music.

Music was outlawed as un-Islamic by Ayatollah Khomeini soon after the revolution. But as the fervor of the revolution started to fade, light classical music was allowed on radio and television. Some public concerts reappeared in the late 1980's.

Now, I was willing to give President Ahmadinejad a chance. The Iranian people elected him because of economic promises he made. I understand that. But this is just too much. When you compound the above snippet with all of the anti-Israel rhetoric this guy is spouting, I just don't see how he thinks acting in this way will help Iran. I mean, who wants to invest in a country run by a loon controlled by Khameini? Not me, my friends.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks this is just ploy to get the Iranians riled up for the next revolution that must happen...the revolution that overthrows the Islamic Republic. Ahmadinejad is stylizing himself after Khomeini. While Khomeini is somewhat idolized in Iran, his policies were shit and most of them, especially the major ones regarding women, ended up being overturned.

Anyway, I don't really know what the point of this rant is except to say that Iranian people deserve better than to be represented by this douche bag.

Because sometimes I steal ideas from Bill vol. 2

Via Bill

You are The Fool

The Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he need to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning. But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. Stop daydreaming and fantasising and watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Because sometimes I steal ideas from Bill

Itunes Stats

How many songs? 1824

First song: 'They Schools', Dead Prez
Last Song: Your Favorite Thing, Sugar

Sort by time:
Shortest song: Paul (Skit), Eminem
Longest song: Cool As Hell Ali, featuring The St. Lunatics

Sort by Artist:
First Artist: Abdel Ali Slimani
Last Artist: Yoko Ono

Sort by Album:
First Album: A Grand Don't Come for Free, The Streets
Last Album: Yes, Morphine

Top Five Most Played Songs:
1. In My Place ~ Coldplay (29)
2. Watchin' Me ~ Jill Scott (29)
3. Ghanan Ghanan ~ Lagan Soundtrack (29)
4. Asking Too Much ~ Ani DiFranco (28)
5. Hell Yeah (Pimp the System) ~ Dead Prez (28)

First Song that Comes Up on Shuffle:
Jackie's Strength ~ Tori Amos

Search...
"Sex," how many songs come up? 1
"Death," how many songs come up? 9
"Love," how many songs come up? 84
"You," how many songs come up? 38
"Girl," how many songs come up? 12
"Woman," how many songs come up? 12

Calling all librarians

So, I have a zazzle account and I want to make a cool t-shirt that says "Radical Militant Librarian." You will understand it all after reading this lovely article about how librarians have ruined everything by championing privacy rights. We should all be ashamed!

So, who wants a snazzy t-shirt?

Holla back for Rome!

While I usually put little to no stock in these Hollywood type awards, I am super happy that Rome was nominated for Best Television Drama Series. Also, Polly Walker aka Atia was nominated for the Best Actress in a Drama. No one else in the cast was nominated for anything but this only signals good things for future seasons of Rome. HBO, I hope you are paying attention. Give me more Rome, please.

Also, for those of you who want to get addicted to the show, HBO is rerunning the series the week of Christmas. That is the perfect time for me to have TiVo record the three episodes I am missing.

While I was disappointed to not see any mention of Gilmore Girls in the nominations, I was very happy to see Weeds up for Best Comedy. That show is pretty super. It has a nice mixture of dope humor and seriousness. When is the second season of that show going to come out?

A Woman Rebels

This morning, before coming in for my late shift, I watched an old Katharine Hepburn movie called A Woman Rebels. Set in Victorian England, Hepburn plays Pamela. Pamela is determined to be her own woman and even has the audacity to read books! One of the best quotes from the movie comes from the nanny, Miss Piper. She says, "As women, the first thing of importance is to be content to be inferior to men, inferior in mental power in the same proportion that she is in physical strength. A really sensible woman feels her dependence. She's conscious of her inferiority and therefore grateful for her thought." Heh. Naturally Pamela finds this to be stupid. So, her father introduces her and her sister into society where Pamela meets a man who lies, don't they all, and then he gets her pregnant! Quel scandal! Pamela then meets another man who actually likes that she has a brain. However, since he thinks her daughter is her niece she can never be with him. Instead she gets a job at a paper, writes articles that empower women and lead to child labor laws. But of course her past comes back to haunt her. Will Pamela find happiness? Well, watch and learn.

I have to say that I have been on a bit of Katharine Hepburn kick lately. Desk Set was on a week or so ago and after that I set TiVo to record all movies with Katharine Hepburn starring. So, I will soon be watching many more movies with the fiery red head.

If you haven't seen Desk Set, you totally should. One of the best librarian movies ever made. Plus the whole computers are going to take over the world plotline cracks me up every time.

Not for the Mikey T's of this world?

I know a few of the people behind the new blog Savage Justice. If you like to read ranty, leftist stuff and things, then check it out. If not, then don't.

As for the picture request...I would have to have a camera to fulfill that request. Huh, maybe that's what I should have asked Santa for instead of a plane ticket. Oh well! I will try to take a pic of my nose ring for y'all.

My nose !@#$@! hurts!

Disclaimer: The following is a bit squicky. Read with caution.

This past week was not good in the land of the newly pierced nose. Last week, I developed "the bump." "The Bump" is a zit-like formation that occurs pretty often with newly pierced noses. So, it looks like you have a zit next to your shiny nose ring. Well, I followed "the bump" care procedures to the letter.

Antibacterial soap twice a day: check.
Hot Compress: check.
Trying to not touch it and/or pop "the bump:" check.

And finally on Saturday night the thing burst whilst I was asleep. I wake up to crusty blood on my face. As, I am washing my face I notice that "the bump" is entirely gone. Yippee. My joy is short lived. As I wash my face, I get my nose ring stuck on the wash rag and pull the ring out of the hole. A ouchie for sure but this has happened before.

So, I go to put the ring back in and nothing. It will only go in part of the way. I chuckle because it isn't always easy to detect where the inner hole is. So, I try another angle. Nothing. I try a third time and again, nothing. Now, I start to freak out a bit. I mean, how in the name of Zeus, has my nose ring hole closed in the span of 3 minutes? I don't know how but it did. So, my friends, I had to repuncture through my nose, and I felt the cartilidge give way. It hurt. I didn't cry or anything but it wasn't fun.

And now, my nose hurts again. Compound on top of this my current running nose and it should be a good ol', red nosed time here in Jalehlabadland.

I heart Glarkware

Since I love all things associated with TWoP I must take a moment to pimp Glarkware's new Now or Never shirts. For you Rome fans out there, here is Thirteen. I am pretty sure that I will be buying one of these.

French nothings and sleeping naked

So, to get the telly talk out of the way, I need to rave about this week's Kitchen Confidential. First, I am sad they cancelled this show. I don't think it really got a chance to catch on but whatever. This week, Michael Vartan, aka The Pretty, guest starred as a French chef who steals Jack's lamb dish. Hilarity ensues. I have to say that this episode was the funniest of the season. Plus, it never hurts to have Vartan speaking with his native French accent and speaking French. Sigh. Anyway, I have the thing saved on Tivo so I can rewatch to my hearts content.

In other news, it has gotten so cold that I cannot sleep in the buff anymore. Well, actually it's been that cold for a while. But last night, I could not sleep without socks on. This is not good since normally I find clothes all constrictive, especially the pesky clothes like socks. But alas, I was up until I clothed my feet and then woke up with warm toes. So, I guess it all worked out.

You know, I am now realizing that I have just told the world that I sleep naked. Huh. Shockingly, I am not really disturbed by this revelation of self. When I was a kid my grandma lived with my mom and I. She would sleep naked and sometimes would sleep walk. Which was not good. But I remember asking her about it one day and she said that when you get older you don't want to be all encumbered by clothes when you sleep. I recall thinking she was nuts but then I was a prude at the age of nine. Then when my mom married my (step)dad, my oldest (step)sister was always naked. I mean, I would come home from school with friends and before I let them in I would have to yell to see if she was naked. I didn't want to scar my friends or be embarrassed by my sister. Anyway, I guess being around Tina made my less inhibited. And now, due to the cold, I must put my inhibitions back on in layers of socks, t-shirts, flannel pants, and sweat shirts. Oh how the mighty nude sleeper has fallen.

Check this out

Via Hissyfit:

Read this funny piece of writing, "I Don't Know What the Big Deal About Having a Baby Is."

Hee. Also, no offense Angie and Jody! I love you both even if you are mommies.

It's snowing!

Normally, I would not like the snow. In fact, if I am driving, I hate the snow. But today, as I walked to the campus center to pick up my mail, I was just in awe of how pretty falling snow is. The whole place looks like a pretty snow globe.

Now, let's just hope that the ground is warm enough to make this stuff melt.

Buffy:Dopplegangland and Beyond

So, B-Mart asked me to write about Dopplegangland after I finished watching it. Well, I generally like to keep my promises, so here goes.

I absolutely LOVED this episode. It is one of my favorites so far. I think VampWillow rocks. She is so bad ass and the leather is a good look for her. Hee. I especially loved the tinge of lesbianism going on with VampWillow; it's a hint of things to come. I also liked how everyone, except Angel, tries to rationalize that VampWillow shares no common traits with RealWillow. And I cracked up when Angel says, "Well, actually.." And then gets the STFU look. Hee. Also, loving how Xander thinks it's rad that he is a bad ass vamp in the other world.

Still hating Faith though. Hating that she tried to turn Angel back into Angelus. I just can't stand her. I hope Faith bites it when the mayor tries to acsend. I say tries to because we all know that Buffy and the Scooby gang are going to stop him. And then Angel leaves. Sniff.

Anyway, I am now getting ready to watch Graduation Parts 1 and 2. I will probably watch them tomorrow night so I can start season 4 this weekend. Soon, B-Mart, I will know all that you know about Buffy. Grasshopper is learning, Master.

New Equipment

Now, I know I have talked a great deal about television recently but I feel the need to talk about the gym for a post every now and then.

After being away for a week, I go to the gym and find all new equipment. I have to admit that I fear change at the gym. I have a routine and I like it. I had a trainer and she left town and I didn't like that. She was really the only person I talked to at the gym. But, I digress, anyway there were these new weight machines. I decided to overcome my skepticism and check them out. They totally rule. These machines are much smoother; I can lift an extra 10 pounds on my leg extensions with the new machines. Even cooler is the new hip adductor machine. This new piece is much easier to use and climb in and out of.

Anyway, my ass needed to hit the gym after all the food I ate last week. So, now I am getting back on my four nights at the gym and one night of racquetball. That should shed a couple of pounds before my NYC trip.

Alias is over

Well, all those who love Alias knew this day would come. Honestly, I am not sure I am so sad to see the end of Alias. I mean, while I love the show; the plot points have been weak and the with all the new faces it doesn't really seems like the same old Alias.

So, Alias, I will bid you a fond farewell. Mostly, I will miss Erin's snarky commentary on the show. And Spy Daddy. Where will I get my Victor Garber fix?

He's Slippin' 'Em Bread....Dig?

For the second week in a row I was home on Tuesday night. Alas, due to multiple phone calls and packing I did not watch Gilmore Girls in real time but I did tivo the epi and so you get a breakdown.

The Great:

I really liked all the reuniony things with Lorelai and Rory. I am so happy they made up.

Sebastian Bach tackled Zach. Hee! Hee!

Brian wrote a song for Lane. Aww.

The Good:

Christopher is paying for Yale. Now, don't get me wrong...I hate Christopher but I do think it's time he did one fatherly thing for Rory in her life. You know, besides the cotillion thing.

Luke told Liz about the kid. It's good he told someone. Maybe he should try telling his fiancee.

Sookie was pretty funny this episode. I like Sookie much better when they don't write her all retarded.

Liz. I just have to say that I love the Liz character, especially when she comes sans T.J.

Things that weren't bad per se but mehish and bugged me:

Zach. I don't care how jealous you are; you DO NOT screw up your bands first chance at an actual record deal. You do not act like an ass; get all prima donna and then dump your super cool girlfriend. Why have the Palladinos made me hate Zach?

Paris. Okay, did anyone else get the memo? Because when did Paris become Rory's best friend? And where was I when this happened?

Logan. Obviously, he's going no where. Personally, I am giving him the benefit of the doubt here on the breaking up thing. I mean, I don't really like him but he's never really had a girlfriend before.

The hate:

Shut up, Christopher*. Gah!


*In other news, I read that they are trying to give Christopher a bigger role on the show and all I have to say about that is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! If Luke and Lorelai do not end up together at the end of this show, heads will roll.

Howdy Doody

So, last night I watched what some call "The Trilogy" of Gilmore Girls episodes with Robyn. The trilogy contains Luke Can See Her Face; Last Week Fights, This Week Tights; and Raincoats and Recipes. It's kind of fun to watch Gilmore Girls with someone who doesn't really know what it going to happen. She didn't know about the icky Rory/Dean hookup; as I sit there with my head down willing it to not happen. I have to say her anger at the abrupt ending of season four mirrored my own. So, that was a bit of a relief.

I think next time she might watch some Buffy with me. I think she likes that I have no clue what is going to happen next. As a side note, B-Mart, the next episode I get to watch is Dopplegangland so I basically ignored that whole post you wrote because I don't want to be spoiled. I have to say though, that I really never liked Faith at all. In fact, from the moment she called Buffy, "B", I was out. Not impressed one little bit by her. Anyway, I am interested to see what the end of season three will bring.

Hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving.