Month: December 2010

On Tap: New Year’s Resolutions

in: due time, on: tap

“Now we’re there
And we’ve only just begun
This will be our year
Took a long time to come…”
– The Zombies, “This Will Be Our Year”

This video really got me. YouTube user mitm2002 made a short video from his parents’ Super 8 footage and set it to one of my top three most beloved New Year-related songs, The Zombies’ “This Will Be Our Year.” So good.

Anyway. Today is December 29, 2010, which means I am just two and a half short days from saying good riddance to this – pardon the profanity – completely shittastic year. To be fair, 2010 wasn’t totally awful. There were certainly some ups, particularly in terms of my career, and I have some priceless memories with close friends. And, all in all, it looks like 2010 isn’t ending on a sour note (fingers crossed). But there was much heartache, stress, familial trouble, financial trouble, sleeplessness, et. al., and I’m hoping to close this chapter cleanly.

Regardless, I am incredibly excited for the new year. It’s, in so many ways, a fresh start, and, even more toe-curlingly thrilling, it’s one of those pivotal big years for me. There’s my dreamy winter internship, my 21st birthday, a potential big move, another unbelievable internship (perhaps two?!) and graduation! And I know that everyone says this, every year, but this year – This will be my year.

I’ve never made a list of New Year’s Resolutions before – and I’ve certainly never followed the unspoken ones I’ve made – but for 2011, I’ve composed a list of 21 things I aim to do to make my life happier, healthier and more successful. You really ought to see the physical list. I went all out. It’s colorful and covered with doodles and snide comments. I’ll hang that one on my wall and reproduce it (boringly) below.

Two quick notes – I made the list 21 items long in celebration of my big birthday, and I wrote it in third person. Sue me.

Happy 2011 to you and yours. I hope this year brings untold joy and success.

Love,
The Girl

After the jump, The Girl with the Dunce Cap’s 2011 New Year’s Resolutions.

Continue reading →

Book Club: Pulse for Android

in: on queue, in: the press

Okay, so those of you who know me intimately know I’m not exactly tech-savvy. Web-savvy, yes, but technologically inclined? Certainly not. But I’m an avid Wired reader (and thanks to Thomps, subscriber!), and I love to pretend to know about all sorts of technological thing-a-ma-bobbers.

So, I’m celebrating nine months with my beloved Android phone (the original Droid), and I honestly don’t know how I got by without it. I’ve invested my life into this phone. I’m always going through a bit of an application cycle, wherein I cleanse my phone of particular apps and then install new ones (sayonara, Northwestern’s particularly shitty, useless and space-wasting application, hello Buzzfeed‘s totally twee and squeal-inducing application for cuddly animals* and Joseph Gordon-Levitt). And the other day, I hit the proverbial motherload.

I downloaded Pulse from Alphonso Labs at my market’s urging, and I’m addicted. I know the application’s been out for a while (and has been free on both Android and iPhone platforms for a few months), but this discovery was the answer to my calls for a streamlined news application. I found myself wondering this break how to find the information and news I wanted when I’d read all of my Twitter updates. My brain’s grown finicky and tired of traditional news sites. How am I to read the news if it’s not presented in an easy, scrollable format a la New York Magazine‘s fantastic Android widget?

Pulse is it. You can follow up to 20 feeds on Pulse, and the most recent articles and updates are presented on a flowing visual interface. It’s similar to Google Reader but features images instead, and there’s even the capability for Reader integration. Also, it’s so freaking simple to share articles on Twitter, Facebook and a number of other sites.

Now, The Dunce Cap isn’t one for gushing about a product. I’m not here to sell you anything (except for me, future employers!), and the best thing about Pulse is that it is free. I can’t even believe it – it’s easy to read and friendly to my news ADD, and I can even create a widget for any news site, blog or even comic (!) I follow. I’m following enough publications and blogs to really round out my knowledge. I’ve got my Frisky fix and my A.V. Club updates, as well as Salon, Gawker, NYT (to pretend I’m a real human being interested in daily news), Wired and even The Girl with the Dunce Cap! (Why do I follow myself, you ask? Because I can.) I’ve spent so many nights with my finger glued to Pulse. It feels like something approaching productivity.

*Cute Overload is also a great site I will inevitably follow on Pulse and features very cuddly animals

Image from Gizmodo

So, to follow that total product plug (I’m not getting any sort of compensation for this. I’m just obsessed.), an article I found courtesy of Pulse. I’m following Gizmodo for some of my dorkier tech news needs, and this article made me laugh. Check it out.

I’m Not Buying Any More CDs That Don’t Look Like Lunch Meat

Dunce Flash: Week of Dec. 27, 2010

in: the press

“Natalie Portman Got Pregnant and Engaged to Crush Your Dreams”

Image from Gawker

Gawker gave the story the perfect headline, but I think NY Mag put it best:

“Natalie Portman: Doing everything all of a sudden! Not content simply to star in the indie smash Black Swan, pick up award after award on the way to the Oscars, circle movies like the Alien prequel, The Great Gatsby, and The Dark Knight Rises, sit terrified while Annette Bening issues queenly pronouncements in her basso profundo during an actors roundtable, co-write a screenplay described as a “female-themed Superbad,” appear in roughly 8 million billion movies next year including Thor, Your Highness, and No Strings Attached, and wear vegan shoes made special for her by Christian Dior … deep breath to recover … the 29-year-old actress has now announced her engagement to ballet choreographer Benjamin Millepied, who appeared opposite her in Black Swan. What’s more, Portman is pregnant, People has confirmed. It’s her turn now!” [New York Magazine]

That’s right – the gorgeous and terrifyingly talented Natalie Portman is expecting with her now fiancee, French ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied. Mazel tov, Nats. Breaking hearts all over the place!

And, for good measure, my favorite short-form Portman piece. “Natalie’s Rap,” from a 2007 Saturday Night Live Digital Short, is posted below. Frankly, this video reminds me – I’m not mourning Portman’s pending nuptials. It’s the fact that she’s no longer (supposedly) with Andy Samberg*that brings the tears.

*An unsubstantiated rumor from US Weekly in 2007 that I desperately wanted to be true.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

 

Hugh Hefner Engaged to Former Playmate

Image from The Village Voice

Snore. Who cares?

The 84-year-old Hefner proposed to 24-year-old Crystal Harris, Dec. 2009’s Playmate of the Month, on Christmas Eve. [The Village Voice]

I much prefer this hilariously gross rumor from 2007, pairing then-72-year-old Morgan Freeman with his 27-year-old stepgranddaughter. Heebie jeebies!

The A.V. Club Releases “Turds in the Caviar” List

The exceptional people at The A.V. Club composed this list, “The turd in the caviar: 24 songs that almost derail great albums.” At the top of the list was The Beatles’ abrasive “Revolution 9,” from The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album). Also included: The Hold Steady‘s “Chillout Tent” from The Boys in Girls in America (“…The multiple-singer approach inadvertently makes “Chillout Tent” sound like the faux-Broadway stylings of Meat Loaf.”); Belle & Sebastian‘s “Electronic Renaissance” from Tigermilk; and Kanye West‘s “Drunk and Hot Girls” from Graduation (“West deliberately shifts from mildly funny to drunken asshole, singing badly the entire time.”)

I think it’s a pretty stellar list, though BaBe wishes to note his dissatisfaction with the inclusion of Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” from Blonde on Blonde. [The A.V. Club]

Does Buffy Think Dolphins are Just Gay Sharks?

Glee‘s Heather Morris – the devilishly inane cheerleader Brittany – is in talks to portray Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the Warner Brothers film adaptation (or remake? or follow-up? or something.) of the eponymous ’90s show. Morris is hilarious, and I think she’d be a killer slayer (heh. Pun intended.), but I just can’t imagine Buffy sans Joss Whedon. The Frisky compares Morris to Sarah Michelle Gellar, who portrayed Buffy for seven seasons in the television show, and Kristy Swanson, who originated the role in the 1992 film alongside the dreamy Luke Perry. [The Frisky]

A.V. Club: Merry Christmas, Tracy Jordan!

in: viewing room

Over the years, “30 Rock” has produced some pretty killer jams. From “Muffin Top” to “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah,” the tunes from Tracy, Jenna, Liz and the whole gang bring hilarity and joy. This one is good, too, and seems so appropriate for today.


Tracy Jordan, “It’s a Jordan Christmas”

And for those of you not into “30 Rock” but still feeling the Yuletide spirit, here’s a video The Frisky so aptly labeled “Hot Guys Play Santa, For the Heck of It.” Somehow, I think they missed the point of this, but the video made me tear up all on its own. Also, the use of one of my favorite tracks (“Blue Skies” by Noah and the Whale, featured on The Dunce Cap, Vol. 25) was a truly stellar choice. [The Frisky]

¡Feliz Navidad! Buone Feste Natalizie. Joyeux Noel. Mo’adim Lesimkha, Chena tova. Merry Christmas.

Love,
The Girl

The Dunce Cap: Dec. 20, 2010

in: heavy rotation

I’m bringing you The Dunce Cap a little early this week. Why? Because I Can and Because I Want To, which are two concepts I can get behind.

Edward Hopper's "Summer Evening"

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 29: Underneath the stars on the Ferris Wheel, you swung your feet and sang my favorite Weezer song. So I sang along. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “Write About Love” – Belle & Sebastian
2. “All the Wine” – The National
3. “Kiss Your Lips” – Allo Darlin’
4. “Naomi” – Neutral Milk Hotel
5. “Laura” – Girls
6. “Like or Like-Like” – Miniature Tigers
7. “Oysters” – Matt Duke
8. “The Mystery Zone” – Spoon
9. “Begin” – Ben Lee
10. “All of Us” – Painted Palms

*BONUS TRACK* “The Boys Are Back in Town” – Belle & Sebastian (Thin Lizzy cover)

I promised you Dunce Cap devotees (so, you know, I promised myself, really) new artists and tunes, so this is my way of delivering. New artists? A couple. There’s Allo Darlin’, this great London foursome with a love for Weezer and Woody Allen and a tacit appreciation for “Graceland” (sample lyric: “You see, it’s like loving ‘Graceland.’ It’s not allowed to be, but we know it’s everybody’s favorite,” from “My Heart is a Drummer”). And then there’s Painted Palms, a San Franciscan band which Sound of the Sound describes as “a happily drugged out mix (think pot and mushrooms, not ketamine and meth) of Passion Pit and Animal Collective.” [Sound of the Sound]

And, of course, there are new tracks from Spoon and Belle & Sebastian, a favorite National track of mine from “Alligator” (who else but Matt Berninger can get away with a line like “I’m a perfect piece of ass, like every Californian”?), a Matt Duke song with a great whistling breakdown and my very favorite tune from my very favorite Aussie, Ben Lee. Finally, the mix rounds out with a bonus cut from Belle & Sebastian’s BBC Session, a cover of Thin Lizzy‘s “The Boys Are Back in Town.” The song manages to combine two things I love the most: Glasgow indie pop and Irish hard rock. Somehow, I don’t think the two get along. Except musically.

All in all, it’s a pretty pleasing mix, about, as most music is, love. It’s not a statement, really, it’s just the subject of a lot of the music I like best. And the album art is a glorious painting from Edward Hopper, the artist behind “Nighthawks,” which I will see in person tomorrow!

How’s that for a description, kiddos?

I’ll be back tomorrow with some interesting and laughable videos and cultural musings. And for next week’s Dunce Cap, I’ll have all sorts of new music to contribute. I’ve resubscribed to some of my favorite music blogs (You Ain’t No Picasso, Music for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and I Guess I’m Floating, which you should all check out), so I should have exciting new ear candy soon.

In the meantime,
Happy listening.

P.S. I just finished Woody Allen‘s “Manhattan.” I’m not a huge fan of Woody’s nebbish neurotic (in any of his films, really), but I did tend to like his leading lady. The 17-year-old Tracy explains to her much older beau, “Not everybody gets corrupted. You have to have a little faith in people.”

Yeah, I guess I’ll have to remember that.

On Tap: More Winter Vacation!

on: tap

The planetarium this morning was excellent!

…Okay, I can’t lie, even to you, wide-open cyberspace. I slept in. I slept in and didn’t go to the planetarium. But! To redeem myself, I have a few exciting things lined up. I solemnly swear to actually act on these things.

Tomorrow (Wednesday), I’m going to head over to Belmont (and maybe Wicker Park) for some last-minute Christmas shopping. And Thursday evening, I can be found at The Museum of the Art Institute, where admission is free from 5 to 8 p.m. I’m so thrilled to see (for the first time in my entire Chicago experience) Seurat’s “Sunday Afternoon,” Wood’s “American Gothic” and one of my favorite paintings of all time, Hopper’s “Nighthawks.” Plus – Monet, Degas, Van Gogh! I think I’ll be there quite some time.

For your personal enjoyment, a video of yours truly reciting a poem written as a response to “Nighthawks.”


Give me a break. I was 16.

For now, spending an evening with an old friend.
Happy Tuesday.

On Tap: Winter Vacation

on: tap

It'll look like this but snowier.

I wasn’t sure where else to include this, so it looks like I’m going to start a new feature. It’s kind of like Book Club but more all-encompassing. There’s so much to consume and do and see and participate in, and this’ll be a nice little way to keep it all in order.

I mentioned a whole host of things I want out of this break, and I plan to accomplish most of them.

 

First up, Adler Planetarium. Tomorrow.
Meet me there!

A.V. Club: Winter Vacation, Part Three

in: viewing room

I’m going to make this a pretty quick one because I start work tomorrow, and I want to be all sprightly and fresh.

I’m back in Chicago after a wonderful few days back home with my family, and I have to say – it’s more lonesome than I think I anticipated it would be. It’s as if the empty streets echo a bit. Regardless, the flight back was nothing short of interesting. I had an entire gospel choir seated behind me, and they weren’t afraid to belt one (or two) out at the departure gate. I’m glad to be back, but I’m a bit antsier than normal too.

It’s been a few exciting days – finally the repeal of DADT! – and I’m sure there’s much more to come.

Anyhow – here’s a video, a site and a product you ought to all check out:

Batman ain’t sinister, he’s a Powerpuff fan!

Bruce Wayne himself (or, at least, his most recent portrayal) sings the Powerpuff Girls theme song on “Popcorn” with Rolling Stone‘s Peter Travers alongside Mark Wahlberg to promote their film “The Fighter.” It’s pretty amusing, and I completely forgot about Christian Bale‘s Welsh accent. As one of the Frisky commenters points out, I thought initially that the Welsh accent was fake! [The Frisky]

Kat Doodles!

Happy Thanksgiving from Kat Doodles!

My adorable friend Kat runs a fittingly adorable blog called “Kat Doodles.” It’s no misnomer – Kat doodles both things from her imagination and by request, and it never fails to be rather twee and smile-inducing.

Ray Lewis fans, breathe easy

Comfy n' snug, Ray?

Your favorite NFL player/acquitted murder suspect has his own Snuggie!

The Dunce Cap: Dec. 13, 2010

in: heavy rotation

Image courtesy of nataliedee

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 28: You are too young to put all of your hopes in just one envelope. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “If She Wants Me” – Belle & Sebastian
2. “Temporary Title” – Butch Walker
3. “Adventures in Solitude” – The New Pornographers
4. “Southtown Girls” – The Hold Steady
5. “Miss Sweeney” – Weezer
6. “Dark Neon” – Wilco
7. “Love You To” – Yim Yames
8. “Breakin’ Up” – Rilo Kiley
9. “Back in Your Head” – Tegan & Sara
10. “See You” – Saves the Day

I really ought to start making themed mixes again. It gets tiresome, putting ten tracks together to make a disjointed collection. What can I say about these tracks, really? I like ’em. I like ’em quite a lot.

Mainly, this is a mix of the same ol’ artists I listen to week in and week out. I think I’ll take this break to explore music all over again. I’ll bring you some exciting new artists and tunes soon enough.

Tomorrow, news/sites/videos.

Until then, and as always –
Happy listening.