“I like to move forward … I don’t know how much it would help for me to think about things too much. It just seems so fucking unfair. So I get on my elliptical machine and listen to some Rihanna and try to forget about this bullshit.”– Mindy Kaling on the death of her mother in New York magazine, Sept. 17, 2012
This should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone at all, but I adore Mindy Kaling. She is absolutely hysterical and so self-assured, and she’s an inspiration not merely as a woman or as an Indian but as a comedian and as an individual. If you haven’t yet, be sure to read her memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). She’s absolutely one of a kind and so, so high on my list of empowered females. She’s still writing for the last season of The Office, and she’s got her own television show (for which she’s showrunner, writer and star) on Fox, and the pilot alone boasts such big comedic names as Ed Helms and Bill Hader. She was the cover girl for last week’s issue of New York magazine, which may still be lingering on some newsstands, if you’re lucky. The profile is touching and sweet and hilarious, much like Kaling herself, and certainly worth a read.
And, embedded below for good measure, my favorite Kelly Kapoor moment from The Office.
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]
The Dunce Cap, Vol. 22: I guess he’s an X-box and I’m more Atari. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)
1. “Fuck You” – Cee-Lo Green
2. “Teenage Dream” – Katy Perry
3. “Walking the Dog” – fun.
4. “All Hail Dracula!” – Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin
5. “House of Cards” – Butch Walker
6. “Cold War” – Janelle Monae
7. “I Want To” – Best Coast
8. “Shutterbugg” – Big Boi
9. “Magic” – B.o.B.
10. “Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem
Happy 9/02/10! That’s right: Today is 90210 day! That’s right. It’s September 2, 2010, and it’s time to celebrate those crazy kids in California’s wealthiest zip code. Dylan McKay? Brandon Walsh? Yum-my. I won’t speak too much to the original teen primetime soap, as People does it best. Also, New York Mag. Win.
Regardless, last week I missed a Dunce Cap. I’m sorry, y’all. It was a week without wifi, and it was a week without music. Or, at least, chronicled and playlisted music.
But, alas, I’ve returned! It’s Labor Day weekend and the unofficial end of summer, so The Dunce Cap is back in full force with the ten best tracks of the summer. From Big Boi to B.o.B, these are ten tracks which have truly captivated my attention this summer. There’s the recently released Cee-Lo track, the ’60s girl group sweet sing-along kiss-off “Fuck You,” which is making me unceremoniously giddy. There’s the Someone Still Loves You vampire track from Let It Sway. There’s that infectious and delightfully irritating Katy Perry title track, “Teenage Dream.” There’s Butch Walker! There’s fun.! There’s Best Coast!
Hell, I’m feeling the heat in stereo.
Arguably, the last track on this mix, Eminem’s collaboration with Rihanna, “Love the Way You Lie,” doesn’t quite fit with the rest of this happy-go-lucky (if you can count Cee-Lo’s own “Since U Been Gone” anthem as such), but it’s been quite a force this summer and aligns the mix with my current state of emotion. By bookending this Dunce Cap with the aforementioned Cee-Lo and this Eminem track, it makes for a great summer sayonara to all of the boogie oogie feelings of a breakup.
What are your favorite tracks from summer 2010? Post ’em in the comments.
Happy listening.
P.S. I owe you a fair number of Third Year Thirties. Coming soon, hopefully.
I’m deeply saddened to report that my beloved Paste magazine is suspending its print publication. I read the news via NY Mag, who in turn heard it when Gawker broke the story this afternoon.
The magazine, which had been struggling amidst the print crisis brought on by this miserable recession, had remained afloat with the help of generous reader contributions. Alas, the donations weren’t enough. Gawker is reporting that the staff was given two hours to clean out their desks.
Pastemagazine.com will remain up and running by a “skeleton staff,” but all of my favorite Paste staffers – like the wonderful and sweet Rachael Maddux! – are reporting their unemployment.
I’m heartbroken. Well wishes to all of the folks at Paste, and thanks for all the years of reading solid, interesting pop culture reporting. It was always one of my dreams to write for Paste. What a shame.
And for Tilda Swinton to be their last cover… [Gawker via NYMag, Paste]
Eek – I haven’t been blogging regularly, as I’ve been on a bit of a chase, journalistically speaking. I’m building a mystery, y’all know? Anyway. So much has happened recently, and I’ve been AWOL. Here are a few things that have led to incredible excitement.
It’s getting hard to keep pretending I’m worth your time
I’m not going to lie. The just-released video for Yeasayer‘s single “Madder Red” is weird. It’s kooky and certainly off-kilter, but it’s also sweet and tender. The gorgeous Kristen Bell of Veronica Marsfame is the leading lady in this video, which New York mag’s Vulture blog calls “the touching story of a girl and her pet blob monster.” And they’re not kidding. The object of Bell’s affection isn’t cute or cuddly but rather totally grotesque and absurd. It looks a bit like the inside of a body, with an oozingly bloody facial cavity thing and piercing blue eyes.
The video, directed by Swede Andreas Nilsson (a long time music video man behind songs by Fever Ray, José González and one of my personal favorites, I’m From Barcelona’s “We’re From Barcelona”) is certainly a bit creepy but it’s also heartwrenching. Check it out below, and definitely give Yeasayer’s full album, the incredible Odd Blood, a listen. [NY Mag]
Let it Sway
Springfield, Missouri's Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin
I really must have been living under a rock these last few weeks. Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin – one of my absolute favorite bands – just released a brand new album today. Their third LP, Let it Sway, is joyous. I’ve been a huge SSLYBY fan since their inception and the release of their first album, Broom, and Let it Sway doesn’t disappoint – itis refreshing. It’s hook-laden with ooh’s, aah’s and ear-pleasing choruses, and the feel is ’90s powerpop, recalling Built to Spill or a softer, more sing-songy Camper Van Beethoven. It’s a record of good-feelings and, while not as stellar as Broom, it has its standouts. Check out the lead single and title track “Sink/Let it Sway” below or give a listen to the anthemic attention-grabber “Back in the Saddle.”
Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin, “Sink/Let it Sway”
Weezer loses sense of irony – and gains indie musicality
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo with album namesake
Weezer is going indie with their forthcoming eighth album Hurley. Rolling Stone reports the band will be channeling “Sixties pop” on the disc, to be released Sept. 14. The band isn’t merely changing their sound – they’re switching labels too. They’ve left their longtime label Geffen/Interscope and are seeking solace at California-based Epitaph, known for hosting bands such as Alkaline Trio (after their parting from Vagrant), Motion City Soundtrack and the Weakerthans. The album art, which Weezer also released last week, actually is a headshot of Lost character Hugo “Hurley” Reyes, portrayed by Jorge Garcia. I’m excited for their alleged return to indie. It’ll be a nice change of pace after the machine-like churning out of Top 40-ready records (though “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” was entirely charming, thanks in great part to producer and lyricist Butch Walker). I’m eager for Hurley – even despite the cheesy (cheeky?) and dated cover work. And despite the rather paltry attempt at a first single, “Memories.” [Rolling Stone]
And in other Weezer news – guitarist Brian Bell hinted in an interview at the Mile High Festival in Denver that the band would be touring in support of their pinnacle album, Pinkerton, which has reached cult classic status since its release in 1996. This one is personally near and dear to my heart. Pinkerton remains one of my absolute favorite albums, and the band is releasing a deluxe reissue of the record October 5 on Geffen. Keep your fingers – and toes! – crossed that Bell isn’t just merely being a tease. [MySpace music]
“I like to move forward … I don’t know how much it would help for me to think about things too much. It just seems so fucking unfair. So I get on my elliptical machine and listen to some Rihanna and try to forget about this bullshit.” – Mindy Kaling on the death of her mother in New York magazine, Sept. 17, 2012
I’m heartbroken. Well wishes to all of the folks at Paste, and thanks for all the years of reading solid, interesting pop culture reporting. It was always one of my dreams to write for Paste. What a shame.
coco keevan 