Is it March Yet?

Is anybody really surprised with this year's Oscar nominations? No? Okay then.

Seriously though. The only pseudo-standout for me was Crash getting a nod for Best Picture. I think it's a good movie (I know! I'm sorry!) but even I thought it was a little too preachily in-your-face for the Academy. I'm mildly surprised Match Point and King Kong didn't get any more recognition given their excessive positive reviews. Oh well.

It is a first though--me actually having seen two of the five Best Pic nominees. And once again, I am once again plagued by the question, "Did anyone actually see _____??" with the ______ being filled by any of the following: Capote, Mrs. Henderson Presents, and what the hell I'll even throw Cinderella Man in there. I only ask because I have had absolutely no desire to see these movies. Or Munich. Or Syriana. Or Good Night, and Good Luck.

I'm sure I'll end up watching the telecast, though, but sweet Jesus I hope it's more compelling than last year. Jon Stewart, you are our only hope.

Hobocamp!

Omigod. Omigod. In the words of Jimmy Tickles, I am so jazzed.

Not About Quirky

Okay. I have to say it, only because it keeps getting positive press everywhere. I hate, hate, hate Fiona Apple's video for "Not About Love".

I just don't get it. If you haven't seen the video, it's just four minutes of chub comedian Zak Galifinakis dancing around and lip synching the song with Fiona in tow. It's not funny or witty or quirky. It's stupid and not entertaining and it doesn't do any justice to the song. This is the first video by Fiona that I actively dislike since she usually does a pretty good job. (Well, "Limp" was kind of feh I admit.) But she has done both simple videos ("Sleep to Dream", "Fast As You Can") and slightly higher concept or higher production videos ("Criminal", "Paper Bag", "O Sailor") of equal quality.

The video just doesn't feel right for the song, or for Fiona. I only comment on it because it's such a radical misstep for her in my opinion and no one else seems to agree.

The Freshmaker: Fish, Fixations and Famous Fams (Bro & Sis)

Fresh: Salmon
Fresh Last Week: Eel
Stale: Tuna

Fresh: Smoking
Fresh Last Week: Nail Biting
Stale: Gum Chewing

Fresh: Jason & Justine
Fresh Last Week: Maggie & Jake
Stale: Joan & John

Alternative, More Accurate Names for the Great Wraps! Franchise Based on the Experience of Myself, Jeff and Phil

Okay Wraps!
Overpriced Wraps!
Overrated Wraps!
Adequate Wraps!
It tastes about as good as I would expect from the price Wraps!
Meh Wraps!
My fries are totally soggy Wraps!
I'm glad I opted for the falafel from that other place Wraps!
Hey, let's go to Arby's some time Wraps!
Gay Wraps!

Post-It Game a Success

Determined to see if the Post-It Note game portrayed so humorously in the Sierra Mist ad is all it's cracked up to be, Allison, Jeff and I sacrificed our sobriety this past weekend in our search for drinking game hilarity. We discovered that it was indeed fun, a hoot and a holler even, but very surprising at times. For example, Dame Judi Dench and John Wilkes Booth? Totally easy to guess. Lady Macbeth, Clay Aiken and Denzel Washington were getting a little harder. Then comes Macy Gray, Sally Field, Lizzie Borden, and Michael Vartan who are damn near impossible for three shitfaced young adults to guess.

I guess the moral of the story is, binge drinking and trying to guess famous people is fun. Especially if you have a Post-It Note stuck to your forehead and no shame.

Say No to Dockers

Chris alerted me to the new Dockers ad campaign, Say No to Metro. The pictures and the "Reflex Test" are particularly annoying. And offensive. I agree with Chris that there are definite homophobic undertones, and I would add the sexism that is always implied with these campaigns. Feminine = bad, you know.

I just don't understand the desire to alienate gays and metro guys, who undoubtedly make up the majority of your male customers. And it doesn't even really make sense. Part of the "Prescriptions" to help avoid being metro involves argyle sweaters which? Pretty damn gay.

The BooYay: January 20, 2006

Because having regular features will hopefully be an incentive for me to update, here is The BooYay in which I will briefly extol or pooh-pooh, well, basically random shit. Is that transparent enough for you?

Boo on Santino for receiving the Wendy Pepper award for staying around past his welcome on Project Runway. His fug fugly plumage-y, nonfunctional ice skating dress thing kept him in the competition while my quiet boyfriend Emmett McCarthy got the aut.

Yay for the Golden Globes for being gay gay gay.

Boo on The Real World for coming just a little too close to my homeland. They haven’t been in a cold location since Boston and without characters like Montana or Genesis, I’m afraid it just won't compare.

Yay for “Boo-urns”, Television Without Pity’s latest Now or Never shirt and tribute to the awesomest Simpsons reference this side of “perfectly cromulent”.

Boo on the, at least, three or so fashion mags for telling me that black is so in this season. Um yeah, it’s black.

Yay for chai bombs, the heavenly mixture of chai and espresso that keeps me caffeinated to the point of tweakiness.

The Freshmaker: Couples, Cocktails, and Cultural Outlooks

This is the Freshmaker, where I generously impart to you all that is arbitrarily trendy in our crazy, mixed-up world today.

(This is also intended to be a blatant rip-off of another equally compelling feature by Jessica Shaw in Entertainment Weekly. What does hers lack, you ask? Irony.)

Fresh: Vaughnifer
Fresh last week: Brangelina
Stale: TomKat

Fresh: Hpnotini
Fresh last week: Melontini
Stale: Appletini

Fresh: Postmodernism
Fresh last week: Materialism
Stale: Marxism

Counting Chickens

I really don't get all of the pre-nominations Oscar buzz. What is the point exactly? I swear there were articles in Entertainment Weekly in like September trying to place odds on who will be nominated. Squids and whales and Felicity Huffman be damned, I simply cannot bring myself to care until the nominations are in. Then we'll talk betting pools.

Nominations are for losers anyway. Anyone will tell you that. Just, you know, don't ask Annette Bening. I think she's still pissed from last year. And that other year that Swank beat her. Ouch.

But Once A Year

Every year in this weird way I always associate the oncoming of American Idol with that of Christmas. The two are actually strikingly similar. Like they both always come at their same respective times each year. And each year they both get heavily promoted weeks before they even occur, which makes you just kind of hate the whole thing and you don't understand why anyone would ever celebrate such commercialized crap. But then once it starts you kind of accept it and get lulled into a state of complacence as you realize the possibilities for entertainment, what with your drunk aunt/Simon not being able to hide her/his disgust for your drunk mother/coked-out Paula. And then you kind of snap out of it, wonder how you survived relatively unscathed, and thank Jesus that it only comes once a year.

Except, you know, American Idol actually lasts five excruciating months whereas Christmas only feels that way.

Poppenfresh

Here's the new blog hotness. MickWrong's Fop Culture (Do you get it?? Cause I'm GAY. Get it? DO YOU??) will strive to bring you all of the minutiae that come across my mind relating to teevee, music, movies, celebs, books, mags, puggles, candy, and rainbows. And nothing else.

I used to have a blog dedicated to reality television, and although the blog is gone (And why is it gone, you ask? Apparently the masses weren't interested in hearing my lengthy ruminations about The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott.) the topic remains one of my un-guilty passions in life. That said, I'll valiantry try not to make every entry about Project Runway though I make no promises.

I'm a full-time student. I study people, not language or writing, so my commas, tend to, get, out of con, trol sometime, s. I also still don't know how to use a semicolon.

So stay tuned, leave some comments, and I'll see you sooner than Lindsay's next "asthma attack". Coke + bulimia = not crazy delicious, yo!

Quelle Suprise!

At the conclusion of a largely ho-hum year that will be remembered mostly for...I don't know, Britney's vagina?, it seems appropriate to give props to the more pleasant surprises of 2006.

Ta-Dah!
The sophomore release from the Scissor Sisters turned out to be just as much of a party as the first with the perfect amount of dancers and downers. The upbeat songs are the best, particularly "Lights" and the first single "Don't Feel Like Dancin'".

Marie Antoinette
Upon first seeing the trailer last year, my eyebrows were raised, and not so much in a good way. Fortunately, Sof.Co. went way beyond the dreck of Lost in Translatzzzz...with this visually fun and dialogue-lite film. And the soundtrack goes without saying.

The Devil Wears Prada
Not a cinematic masterpiece but decently entertaining, though Emily Blunt deserves most of the credit.

Project Runway
It's hard to imagine that Bravo assaulted with with two seasons of PR in the past year. Although there have been some disappointements, (Not everyone was happy with Jeffrey's win, you know) the ball keeps on rolling and the show really just keeps getting better.

Little Miss Sunshine
I definitely did not want to see this movie after initially seeing the trailer. It looked like another indie-by-numbers but with children. Though it strays into overly self-aware at times, the actors turn in some amazing performances.

Democrats
Who knew they'd actually turn it out?

Sia
The Zero 7 chanteuse went off on her own with her debut album, and despite slight overexposure from the Six Feet Under finale and the promos for that Hilary Swank Dangerous Minds II: Inspirational Boogaloo movie, the album is soft, personal and absoltely wonderful.

Chain Reaction
Whether for the sheer dorkness of named-straight-from-the-nineties host Dylan Lane or the spazzocity of the contestants during the bonus round, this game show is hard not to love.

Impeach My Bush
Peaches's latest album is rad for "Slippery Dick" alone, but then throw in "Two Guys (For Every Girl) and "Tent In Your Pants" and you've got a classic.