Ack, again with the business. That’s busy-ness, for the record.
Things are still crazy on this end, so this’ll be a quick post. I know – not even a Dunce Cap to satiate your needs. Here’s what I have to share: a song.
Stellastarr* released this obvious gem, “My Coco,” in 2004. The track is from the band’s self-titled 2003 debut, and it’s a clear winner.
Art from the CD single of "My Coco"
This song has so many associations for me. It was, if I recall correctly, the first track I ever downloaded on iTunes. And I put it on a mixtape for nearly every boyfriend and crush I had during high school. And I recall so acutely the time I had what seemed like an epiphany about the track – I understood the meaning of the song.
I don’t remember exactly what I understood about the song then, but the song always conjures these feelings for me. It’s a track I think I’ll always love, and I like it all the more when it’s paired with this little explanation from stellastarr* lead singer Shawn Christensen.
“My Coco” is about those first few months when you meet somebody and everything’s just new, great and spontaneous. You know when you start dating someone, and everything’s great? It’s giddy and amazing and explorative, and you can’t wait till she calls you? Coco is actually an ex-girlfriend, though that’s not her real name. Eventually, the relationship started going in a downward spiral, and I lost all that initial giddiness.
God, I know that feeling. Heck, sometimes I think I live for that feeling. It’s total adoration, and it’s a feeling I always hope lasts. I’m feeling the first inklings of this, I think, maybe. Right now, it feels oh-so-good.
Though, let’s be honest: “On an island far away, lemonade with my Co-co-co.” I wish. This snow’s quickly growing tiresome.
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.
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]
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.
The Dunce Cap’s been on such a hiatus, but we’re back! So much to share.
I’m spending some quality time with Chaucer, so I’ll keep these fairly brief. But, if I can stick to the plan, I’ll be posting a couple of things every day for the entirety of vacation.
Also a major winner. This video for Best Friends Animal Society encourages you to adopt a pet this holiday season, and I think this particular tactic will really work. [The Daily What]
And in the News Flash! category, two big things a-happenin’.
Image from Disnology.com
First – Zanessa is dunzo! No more Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens lovin’. Sources (however unreliable) say the duo’s relationship has run its course. [LA Times] Maybe it was Zefron’s excellent new facial hair.
From a more reputable expert comes the following exchange:
C: “Efron. Single.”
D: “Efron. Gay.”
Lee's back in the Phillies uniform with R2C2
Second – Cliff Lee signs to the Phillies. Again. This makes the Phillies’ rotation as follows: Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels. Which begs the question: WTF?! [ESPN]
And, for shits n’ giggles, I joined free dating site OKCupid!, so expect some fun anecdotes from that endeavor in the coming weeks. I am not using the website for its intended purpose. It’s amusing, y’know? It’s a sociological experiment of sorts.
So, I ended up in Memphis with the Keevan clan for Thanksgiving, and my jokester sister reminded me of two viral videos that made me positively guffaw in high school. I figured, because it’s reading week and all I want to do is sluggishly slink through the house, I’d share them with you. For what is probably the ten thousandth time.
It looks like The Dunce Cap mixes will, indeed, be up on Thursdays again, but that really depends on this Thursday. And how up to a mix I’m feeling. And I’ll be starting a killer (and immensely exciting) internship at The A.V. Club, the pop culture pull-out of The Onion. Not really sure how that with figure into my regular blogging, but I’m hoping I’ll find a day with a patch of time for, at least, regular mix making.
In the meantime, this week ought to be replete with lots of exciting videos to share with all y’all.
Basically, this video defined late middle school/early high school for me. My aforementioned sibling first showed this gem to me, and I spent many a lunchtimes regaling my classmates with my shitty (and borderline offensive) impressions from this video.
And this video. Oh man, this video. One of my best friends in high school, ChayNay, and I used to watch this video religiously. It’s a gloriously hilarious video chocked full o’ quotables. It began a gorgeous love affair with the video’s snarky protagonist, Kelly.
You wanna play love games?
“The Legend of Old Gregg,” themightyboosh
For me, this was the sardonic soundtrack to my senior year with a collegiate sophomore year reintroduction. “The Legend of Old Gregg” is from this wacky British television show, The Mighty Boosh, and in high school, a few girls discovered this particular skit. It is absolutely ridiculous – and fantastic. It was such a thing in the end of high school, and, thanks to The Boy, it became a trademark in college too.
I’ll be back tomorrow with some new videos for your watching enjoyment. In the meantime, happy watching.
Just a quick one-off of videos that have captivated my attention this week. I promise you’ll all know soon why I’ve been such an unreliable blogger. And I promise it’ll all be worth it.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
TV Spot #8
It’s the second-best thing to seeing a nude Daniel Radcliffe in Equus – Radcliffe clad in panties and a bra for the first installment of the adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s seventh Harry Potter book! To confuse Lord Voldemort (gasp!), Harry’s pals down a potion which makes them all appear as Harry’s doppelgangers. Fleur Delacour, one of many Harrys, seems particularly disgusted with her new appearance. “Look away – I’m hideous,” she whines.
In what I think is a hilarious wedding ode to director Wes Anderson (Gawker commenters be damned!), Sean Duffy and his fiance, Hayden Geller, ask friends, family and Bear Grylls to save the date for their April wedding. Set to The Creation’s “Making Time” and Cat Stevens’ “Here Comes My Baby,” the video is an obvious tribute to Anderson’s “Rushmore,” complete with the tongue-in-cheeks gags and subtitles. It’s definitely a clever and innovative wedding invitation. [Houston Press]
Here at the Dunce Cap, sharing is highly encouraged. And the A.V. Club is one of the easiest ways to put to use the skills taught in kindergarten. This week, A.V. Club brings two excellent clips that’ll make you wet your pants.
There are a couple videos making rounds across the Interweb today, and these two definitely caught my eye. Yes, singular. One each. These two are among the first class of the Dunce Cap Swoon Club, and I think these videos prove any such title is warranted. Totally.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt feels like a natural woman-un-un
Gordon-Levitt’s also runs hitRECord.org, an online collaborative production company, and Monday, at the site’s Summer in the City show, the cherub-faced boy from Angels in the Outfield crooned to many bawling girls.
Wait, I got lost. I wasn’t talking about Justin Bieber? No? Oh, right. Weird.
Somehow, Justin Long makes me envious of a 12-year-old girl
“Ok, foin!” I’ve always thought Justin Long was a catch. Hilarious, cheeky, charming, attractive, assuredly friends with John Hodgman. But this video had me rolling on the floor. You know me – I’m a bit of a Medildo journalist-type, incapable of ignoring mistakes in grammar or spelling. And so, this video just slaaaayed me (I’m sorry. I’m still watching Buffy.)
Anyway. Jimmy Kimmel hosted Long this week, and, instead of talking about the sure-to-be-endearingly-lovable Going the Distance, Long introduced us to…well, I don’t think any of us are sure who we were conversing with. A poor (and poorly educated) tween unwittingly texted Long, thinking she was chatting with her friend of Eduardo. Long replied, and a months-long text exchange ensued. As did hilarity!
The interview (with a short clip from the new movie, due out Sept. 3, at the end) is broken down into three parts on Kimmel’s official YouTube. Part 1 is embedded below, with links to parts 2 and 3 following. [BuzzFeed]
(editor’s note: How did I not know Justin Long was in Crossroads? I must have missed this the ten thousand times I watched that movie for Anson Mount. What? I’m not embarrassed.)
^^I actually have an autographed copy
of this poster in my room. She’s a mannequin, dirty.
Oh my goodness, early century flashback!
I have this clip on VHS somewhere in the recesses of my video collection, but this newfangled thing called YouTube (plural?) allows me to access them in a jiffy!
A full decade ago, Marvelous 3 appeared on the rather shitty WB drama Charmed. The show followed a succession of increasingly unappealing sisters (Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan) – who also happen to be witches. Gasp.
The show aired between ’98 and ’06 (far, far too long), though the poor plot quality was almost compensated for by the array of musical guests who appeared. Like Beverly Hills, 90210‘s Peach Pit, P3, a nightclub owned by sister Piper, was where the gang of four (I nearly typed something that rhymes, begins with a ‘w’ and is equally fitting!) congregated. The Peach Pit had The Flaming Lips and an early Adam Levine circa Kara’s Flowers (the band that would be Maroon 5); P3 had Dishwalla, Fastball, Goo Goo Dolls, Billy Zane (!) and, of course, Butch Walker‘s old outfit, Marvelous 3.
With drummer Slug and Jace on bass rounding out the triad, Marvelous 3 created a sound less glam than previous Walker group SouthGang and more tongue-in-cheek than most contemporary musical peers. The members kept their leather and cut their hair to feathered shags, but their sound was still Southern-crusted rock. In the 2000 Charmed episode “Sight Unseen,” Marvelous 3 performed “Cold as Hell” from their album ReadySexGo! Check out the clip below. There’s Slug’s Union Jack tank! Butch’s eyeliner! Jace’s weird David Lee Roth blonde homage! Alyssa Milano‘s rack! Truly, something for everyone.
My friend Olivia kept a really cool blog, SprocketShot, about movie trailers, and she inspired me to talk a bit about a few I’m particularly interested in. The movies slated for the coming months are inspiring delighted danceabilly. Movie madness!
I often find myself loving movie trailers more than the features themselves (Charlie St. Cloud comes immediately to mind), but I’m confident these won’t disappoint. Steel yourself for the onslaught of previews, and ready your eyes for something damn near pretty.
Easy A
DK would be infinitely angry at me for even deigning to include this. I think it’s on par with wearing yellow. Anyhow – Will Gluck’s Easy A appeals to me; Gluck co-created the hilarious sitcom The Loop and directed the gross-out com Fired Up!, which clearly didn’t get the attention it deserved – and he produced and wrote for Grosse Pointe, the positively brilliant Darren Star sitcom satire starring a young Kyle Howard. Regardless of that mouthful, Easy A is sure to be farcical fun in the way of the totally underrated Sydney White. Emma Stone is captivating, Penn Badgley is her love interest, the aforementioned Bynes is Queen B and Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci play her parents. Oh, and it’s an overt allusion to The Scarlet Letter. I’m sold. (Sept. 17)
Going the Distance
Adorable rom-com powerhouses abound in Nanette Burstein‘s Going the Distance! Long! Barrymore! Applegate! Gaffigan! Sudeikis! And then there’s Charlie! Plus, jokes about dry-humping, a bi-coastal relationship (not too close to home yet – maybe soon), a killer soundtrack and massive relationship awkwardness. Burstein directed The Kid Stays in the Picture and 2008’s dark horse documentary American Teen, so I have high hopes for this one. (Aug. 27)
The Romantics
This one makes me squeamish. Sure, it’s posed as a romantic comedy, and, well, shucks, it’s set at a wedding, and there’s a college reunion of sorts, but, by golly, this one looks as pretty as Evening! Director Galt Niederhoffer adapted her own 2008 novel The Romantics, and the cast list is stellar. This little trailer gem (and, I guess, eventual full length film) features Katie Holmes, Adam Brody, Malin Akerman, Elijah Wood, Anna Paquin and Josh Duhamel as college chums (and the last two as the bride and groom). Pretty looking and pre-nostalgia for me! (Sept. 10)
The Social Network
Mind. Effing. Blown. The trailer for (magnificent director and crazy/beautiful mind) David Fincher‘s The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin, accomplishes everything a trailer really ought to: It makes me want to fork over the $8.50 to see the film. Soon. Based on the founding of Facebook and featuring Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, the film will be good. But in case I had any doubts, this trailer solidified my desire to see the film. Jay-zeus. And, the use of the cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” performed by Belgian choir group Scala & Kolacny Brothers? Inspired. Consider my wallet emptied. (Oct. 1)
Somewhere
Alright, here’s the truth: I didn’t like Sofia Coppola‘s Marie Antoinette. I’m sorry. You can kick me out of the club, if you’d like, though I did particularly adore The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation (two cinematically lush films with gorgeous flowing soundtracks). Somewhere, though? I’m going to love Coppola’s Somewhere. Stephen Dorff is a hedonistic (from the looks of it washed-up) actor who is suddenly faced with the appearance of his free-spirited, long-locked 11-year-old daughter, played by Elle Fanning. Coppola’s cinematography appears, as usual, shining and plain ol’ pretty, and her boytoy, Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars, is producing much of the music for the soundtrack (did you know Phoenix is French? Where have I been?). I really hope this one doesn’t let me down. At least it doesn’t star Kirsten Dunst… (Dec. 22)
Your Highness
Still from "Your Highness" (2011)
I’m such a little tease. The official trailer hasn’t been released for David Gordon Green‘s Your Highnessyet, but this film is like a cinematic wet dream. Metaphorically. Green made Pineapple Express,and he’s the name behind the still-untitled Colton Harris-Moore biography. Plus, James Franco, Zooey Deschanel, Natalie Portman and Danny McBride (KFuckingP to you, kids.) and Michael Clarke Duncan as a troll? It’s my fantasy film league, all rolled into a medieval comedy. This thing will be beautiful, no doubt, and hilarious. I think it may even be worth that six month delay, Universal. (April 8, 2011)
coco keevan 