Missy | May 27, 2004
Check out the photography of John Vanderslice. (via Travelers Diagram.)
Missy | May 27, 2004
Jim Henley writes a follow-up to Jacob Levy’s and Matt Yglesias’ posts on libertarians and the voting conundrum. Me? I tend to use my vote to make a statement, rarely to get a particular person elected.
Missy | May 25, 2004
Hey everybody-
In case you missed the series finale of Angel the first time around, or if you want to see it again, and/or if you want to tape it for posterity (which is to say, until the season 5 DVD is released), you are in luck. It is reairing tonight on the WB at 8pm E.S.T. Check your local listings, watch it, and report back here tomorrow.
Lane | May 25, 2004
Thanks guys. While you’re at it, I have similar questions about the new, much-improved Lollapalooza.
CON: It’s Lollapalooza. Fred Durst look-a-likes and $5 bottles of water will abound.
PRO: Look at this lineup:
08-12 Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post
Morrissey, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, Modest Mouse, Le Tigre, BRMC, Von Bondies08-13 Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post
String Cheese Incident, Flaming Lips, Gomez, Polyphonic Spree, Michael Franti & Spearhead
Of these, I’ve only seen BRMC and Sonic Youth. But I may go for the first day, despite wanting to see the Flaming Lips. And yes, despite being an adult, I can take a day or two off of work if I have to. That is why I love my job.
Wednesday I’m in Love
Lane | May 24, 2004
Missy, I’m sorry to hijack your ‘blog like this, but I want to ask your culturally savvy readers a question.
I just got an email about Wednesday’s pre-sale for tickets to see The Cure, Interpol, The Rapture, and Mogwai at Merriweather Pavilion in early August. For the life of me, I cannot tell whether this show will be a lot of fun (for reference, I had a great time seeing the Go-Gos with the Psychedelic Furs from the lawn of this same venue in 2000), or whether I will be surrounded by listless goths wilting in the summer sun, black mascara running down their aging faces. Or both.
Missy | May 23, 2004
The Sopranos:
Holy crap. There’s something to be said for episodes that advance the plot, as opposed to say, offering an over-long dream sequence. Anyway, this one was up there with the Ralph-bites-it episode, and serves as a nice penultimate-episode-that-feels-like-a-season-finale after a strong season overall. I apologize for not following it all along on this blog because I know it used to be a source (for me at least) of interesting conversation. My blogging creativity comes in fits these days.
Also, my favorite line of the night, courtesy of Tony:
“It’s a Hermes [pronounced as HER-meez]. Supposed to be the best.”
(I imagine only us girls found that funny.)
Missy | May 22, 2004
I completely forgot to go see The Hold Steady last night. Who went? Tell me about the show.
Missy | May 22, 2004
Yesterday I saw what is probably my favorite film of the year thus far (keeping in mind that it is only May and that I also have much love for Kim Ki-duk’s Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring): Russian filmmaker Andrei Zvyagintsev’s The Return, about a father’s return to his family after being mysteriously absent for twelve years. Critical reviews will tell you that it is an allegorical film with open-ended questions–and it is. For me, the film’s power lays primarily with the acting and cinematography. The father, whose motivations we as viewers are left to guess, takes his two sons on a holiday (with an overtone that there are “business”-related things to take care of on his end), acts as any father would, disciplining his sons (sometimes harshly) for irrational & immature behavior, trying to instill what it means to be a man, an adult…and yet one son is accepting while the other (the younger, the one who never knew his father) views him with stubborn contempt. It was the latter, the younger brother Ivan who broke my heart repeatedly in nearly every scene he was in. (In one touching moment after the three take off in a small boat, Ivan does his best to conceal his excitement even though he holds onto a great deal of anger and mistrust). In the meantime, the trip (and the film) becomes increasingly picturesque and distant from the world, as they travel to an uninhabited island. What transpires there is not for me to reveal, but suffice it to say that I was baffled, angered, surprised, and saddened.
Missy | May 22, 2004
Michael Moore wins this year’s Palme d’Or and somewhere, cinecon is weeping. Weeping not tears of joy. But delicious Maggie Cheung won best actress for her work in the Essayist’s new film.
Today I went shopping and spent a terrible amount of money. But it’s okay, because I haven’t done that in a long time, and I went armed with a list of things I need or at least have been thinking about buying–if I don’t do that and still spend a terrible amount of money, I end up with clothes I wonder why I bought because they don’t go with anything I own and I stop wearing them after about three times. Anyway, I’m here today to talk about something that bothers me. It’s what I call size deflation, which–similar to grade inflation where ‘A’ work would previously garner a ‘B’–means that people who are really size 12s are now size 6s. I was in J Crew and found a skirt I adored. They had two left, one in size 0 and one in size 2. I picked up the 2, thinking there’s no way, but I went and tried it on anyway and it fit perfectly. Now before you go and accuse me of blog bragging (blagging?) let me explain something: there is no mother-effing way I am a size 2. People like Sarah Jessica Parker are a size 2, whereas in comparison I am like a size 42. I think Ann Taylor has also capitalized on this subtle little psychology, because when I do shop there (which isn’t often because their clothes overall tend to be too plain jane for my taste), I am much “smaller” than I would otherwise expect. But hell, it probably makes for repeat customers, since there are so freaking many clothing boutiques these days all offering roughly the same seasonal styles. Why not continue to shop at a place that leads you to believe you are a much smaller size than you really are? I simply wish women’s clothes were sized similar to the system used for men’s clothing, which is by measurements. Pants and jeans are always too long, and dresses tend to fit only my upper or lower half of my body but rarely both. Buying clothes online is a crap shoot because of sizing differences. Which means I have to bust out my lazy seamstressing skillz to make things fit right or alternatively (more likely) just deal with awkward sizing.
Then, I was up on the third floor (for reasons that I now forget, since I find that the upper tier of malls contain stores I have no need to shop at, like maternity wear and Kid’s Foot Locker) and I passed by the Jean Machine. Jean Machine! I thought that was a relic of the 70’s and 80’s. What’s funny is that I couldn’t help but notice how *tiny* their clothes were, obviously catering to the physically underdeveloped tween market. Naturally, it brought back painful memories (I kid) of when I hit a second growth spurt my freshman year of college and could no longer fit into my favorite beat up Guess jeans from high school, not because I gained the freshman 15 (although I did put on weight in college that I’ve never lost, no matter how much or which variety of exercise I do or don’t do) but because my breedin’ hips & chest got significantly bigger. Ah well.
Missy | May 20, 2004
Word is finally starting to trickle in about Wong Kar Wai’s 2046. (Thanks to Ryan for that second link.) Oh, and I hear there were some other films at Cannes too.
Missy | May 19, 2004
Thank you, Joss Whedon.
UPDATE
Favorite things:
-Spike’s “effulgent” poetry slam
-”This may sound pretentious, but one of you will betray me.”
-Lindsay finally biting it, and at the hand of Lorne
-The last scene
I’m serious when I say I can probably already start filling in some of the slots for my year-end Best of TV list.
UPDATE#2: See Jim Treacher’s post. (You forgot Amy Acker’s Ilyria line to Gunn, (badly paraphrased): “Try not to die. You are easy on the eyes.”)
Missy | May 18, 2004
Today, in truth a busy day, I needed a good chuckle. Then I went to Swamp City and found a link to the William & Mary commencement address from new honorary doctor Jon Stewart.
I
Missy | May 8, 2004
Has anyone ever written an academic paper on The Sopranos and conflict resolution? Someone (I shan’t say who) has just returned from a week-long class on, among other things, organizational psychology, and that same person has also just watched this past week’s (fantastic) episode of everyone’s favorite HBO series. Let’s hope that same person can apply one’s knowledge to oh, say, her actual job.
(Also, comments are back for now.)
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Listening
Unmap
Volcano Choir
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Reading
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again
David Foster Wallace
