my senior thesis

When I was a senior in college, I chose to do my thesis on John Hughes' movies. Sure, kind of bullshit...or a lot of bullshit... but it was amazing. I knew all of his movies pretty well, but the thesis really made me delve into the 80s culture, classism, the brat pack, etc. In that time I read one of my favorite non-fiction books, this one. Cheesy but great. Wasn't too moved when Michael Jackson died but when John Hughes died this week, I was pretty damn sad. I happened upon this blog which made me tear up a little. It may seem pathetic, but it's true...

Sincerely, John Hughes

Read it.

bali in brief. emphasis on brief.

Bali was amazing. For many reasons. One, the island is gorgeous. You get sandy beachs, sea cliffs, and warm ocean water along the shore. Head inland and you get rice patties, rainforests, tropical flowers, and green, green, green. We were lucky that we got to split our time between these two different landscapes. Half the time we were in a personal bungalow with a giant patio looking out at the rice patties. I adored this location. The bathroom was outdoors and there's really nothing like a private outdoor shower while looking up at the coconuts in a palm tree. The end of the trip we moved to the beach and stayed in a more American-style resort. Sure, it's more of what we're used to, but there's something to be said for a giant pool with a swim-up bar that's right on the sand and ocean. Good times.

Second reason it was amazing was the Indian wedding culture and traditions. It was amazing to see such a different culture. I loved the colorful outfits the females wore and all the shiny beads and jewels. It was beautiful. No black dresses here. The henna, the orange flower leis, the temple you had to walk around, the wrestling matches between relatives... all good times.

And thirdly, it was awesome to get to become friends with all of these LA people that my sister knows. We drank, we ate, we partied, we argued about movies, we bonded. Just like summer camp except we came home and, guess what? Everyone lives without 20 mins of each other so we're still hanging out. Who would have thought? All in all, an unforgettable time.

asian flu virus

Back from a week in Bali (which was fantastic) but somehow managed to catch some nasty Asian flu virus. My doctor assures me it's not the swine flu which is a relief, but I'm second guessing my decision not to wear a mask on the flights like 90% of the other people. Luckily, I'm not alone though. All told, I think there were 8 of us who got really sick the minute we got home.

Once I'm recovered, a full Bali post is in order!

paltrow is totally in touch with reality

Gwyneth Paltrow was raised by celebs in Beverly Hills and in every interview I've seen her in she comes off as a total snob. She had the balls to start a "lifestyle" website called Goop with amazing gems and tips for your life. (I refuse to link to it.) For some reason it's become fairly popular. No doubt for amazing recipes like this "Sandwich" one below:

"Spread each slice of bread with a tablespoon of Veganaise or mayonnaise, sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Layer the bacon, tomato, avocado and lettuce on four slices of the bread and then sandwich with the remaining four. Cut each sandwich in half and serve."

Take a sec, grab a pen and paper, and write that down. You don't want to forget how to make a sandwich.

SYTYCD - Top 16

The Best:

Randi and Evan - This week's show wasn't as good as last week's so I had a hard time picking a favorite. But had to go with Mia Michaels' piece about Randi's ass. I've said it before but these two dancers are just fun and adorable and easy to watch. And Mia brings so much personality to every dance that she almost never misses.

The Worst:

Carla and Jonathan - Jonathan looked pretty damn horrible in this smooth criminal hip hop routine. Just totally out of his element and Carla was not much better.

The Rest:

Ade and Melissa - They are one of my favorite couples and I thought their rumba was very sexy and smooth. Her costume made me sit on the edge of my seat because I thought she was going to reveal a part of her body that I really didn't need to see. But that never happened and instead they pulled off a great dance.

Janette and Brandon - My other favorite couple. I love them more and more every week. Last week their disco was insane. This week their rock-n-roll hip hop was pretty sweet. Brandon was pretty damn impressive for a non-hip hopper. And I just like that Janette is the only competitor who said her 2nd career would be 'loan processing'. Awesome.

Kayla and Kupono - Kayla's an awesome dancer and I totally think her partner Max didn't deserve to go last week. Kupono is lucky to be paired with such a good dancer now. It was a Viennese Waltz which is never particularly thrilling but it looked pretty and he didn't suck.

Philip and Jeanine - Their Tice Broadway routine was pretty entertaining. I like Philip but it wasn't his strongest performance. Kind of a weird Broadway song choice too.

Caitlin and Jason - She isn't very versatile but she did okay. It's easy to be impressive with a showy dance like the Paso Doble and while Carmina Burana is blasting.

Asuke and Vitolio - My second least favorite of the week with their weak Mandy Moore Heartbreaker routine. The choreography didn't help them out because it was boring and the costumes were weird and dated.


In the end, I'm hoping Jonathan goes home as well as Carla or Asuke.

Girlfriend...help me out a little

Seriously Drew. You know you are my favorite. And I support most of your wacky fashion choices. But now you're going a little off the grid. I let this outfit slide because you deserve a pass and I think it was a Green Day concert and we all get a little crazy when we listen to the "Dookie" album, but, really. I appreciate that your (not) boyfriend Justin Long is following you out of the box, but please reel it in a little. Tie-dyed leggings look good on no one. And I saw that face paint on you two days ago at a music festival that was 2000 miles away from this baseball game. Please tell me you've washed your face since then. Please. Drew?


drewfull


DrewCU

So You Think You Can Dance - Top 18

I love this show. Which I will now refer to as SYTYCD. Now, I don't know if anyone watches this show besides me and t, but I am going to write about it anyways. If you're not watching, you should. As someone who is not a "dance" fan per se, I really enjoy it.

So the Top 18:

The best:
My favorite of the night (aka the one I would watch again on Tivo) was Brandon and Janette's disco. Wow. That's all I could say afterwards. It's funny because disco is usually crappy and cheesy but these two completely elevated the genre. Of course, when I found out the choreographer was in "Dirty Dancing", I knew why I enjoyed it so much.

The worst:
Definitely Caitlin and Jason's hip hop routine. I didn't know Jason's name before now but I certainly knew Caitlin because they've highlighted her a lot. The minute I saw she was doing Shane Sparks I knew she was in serious trouble. And she was. Man, not good. They are in danger of being voted off.

The rest:
My other two favorites were Melissa (the ballerina) with Ade and Jonathan and Carla (had to look up their names).
Ade and Melissa did that sort of weird jazz contemporary dance choreographed by Sonya but I love watching them dance together. Last week their slow dance was my favorite (even though it was to Richard Marx).

Then there's Carla and Jonathan. The funny thing is that they are both not really great dancers. But when you've got "Falling Slowly" playing behind you and you're telling a love story, it's hard to miss. And the new Canadian choreographer really surprised me. Especially since at first I thought she seemed like a cheer coach and I thought she'd be a joke. What do I know.

Still love watching Broadway Evan dance with Randi because, as they would say, they are "fun". Good for them.

Vitolio and Asuka did a waltz that made Mary cry but I just thought was pedestrian.

Philip and Jeanine's tango was terrible but Philip is pretty damn awesome so I'm sure he'll be fine.

And then to close it out, Ashley and Kipono's hip hop was lame. Two strikes for Shane Sparks. Is that the end of the Sparks era?

butterfish

Found this fantastic little sushi place walking distance from my house! It has everything you'd want in a local neighborhood sushi joint. A nice bar to sit at, fair prices, excellent albacore, and cool rolls for when you want a change of pace. Our friend also introduced us to a little drink he gets... Soju on the rocks with a few cut up jalapeno pepper slices. Not enough for you to actually taste it, but it's subtle. Delightful. This particular sushi joint also had "butter fish" on the menu and let me tell you, it was delicious. I highly recommend it. Apparently so does Andy Garcia because he was there too and obviously knew everyone. So take that into consideration....

When Sam Mendes and Jim got together with Dave Eggers

Just got back from Away We Go which I am pretty sure I really enjoyed. It wasn't a perfect movie but it was one hell of a departure for Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road and American Beauty) and it gave John Krasinski a good chance to show that he deserves a lot of roles after "The Office" is over. It was a typical little indie movie with a good soundtrack and with a slight melancholy feel even over the funny scenes. But there are a good mix of comedic scenes and moving scenes. The supporting cast was excellent... Allison Janney is hysterical, Paul Schneider is good as usual, and there is this absolutely terrific, touching, portion of the movie with these two little known actors. (yes, I am too lazy to look it up and post the link). So, on the whole, I definitely recommend for a nice little movie experience or if you're looking for a change of pace from Star Trek or Transformers 2.

(and, by the way, The Hangover is absolutely hysterical. Really.)

attention bsg fans...all three of you

Last week I attended an event for Battlestar Galactica and the new Ron Moore series, Caprica. The night started with a sneak preview of "Caprica". I had mixed feelings I had to admit. I mean, I really wasn't that excited about it because I knew it didn't really have much to do with BSG. And, sorry if you disagree, but I find Eric Stoltz incredibly bland and boring. But here's the deal... after a 90 minute premiere I can say I'll watch it again. But I didn't love it. It had problems in that it was seriously somber and it was missing the action-adventure portion to drive the story forward. There is no ticking clock or nothing to really progress the story. Ron Moore admitted it and said it was more of a soap opera in a sense that it was just about the characters. Fine. I watch plenty of soap operas...Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, etc. But that's because I enjoy watching the characters on those shows. Caprica didn't really have any characters I liked or got invested in. So, pretty major problem. The idea of it is pretty good which is what will make me watch it again, but I don't have high hopes.

The Q&A section of the evening was basically just the moderator (super-fan Seth Green) channeling Chris Farley. And what I mean is that he'd get super excited and describe a scene or plot and end with "wasn't that cool?". Yeah, it was cool. But that's not a question. The cast representatives from BSG were Grace Park and Tricia Helfer. Yes, they are both hot. The whole Caprica cast was there too but who cares. :-)