The Best Store in the World

Giant Robot


also, we saw Marie Antoinette. WE LOVED IT.

Annoying Boy of the Week: Mac Daddy

I've always found the pc/mac debate mind numbingly boring. It's like arguing about whether you prefer nikes or addidas. They're just stupid brands. You like what you like. Whatever.

But the new mac tv ad campaign is so annoying. You know, the ones that feature a schleby guy in a tie saying he's a PC and a smarmy guy with facial pubes saying he's a mac. I guess we're on the third or fourth commercial by now. Anyway, the mac commercial I just saw featured supermodel Giselle. Giselle is supposed to represent an i-movie. A hairy, cross dressed man represents the pc movie.

This commercial makes me prefer PCs for the following reasons:

1. If I am asked to chose between schluby and smarmy, I'll take schluby. The mac guy is one of the most obnoxious characters I've ever seen. I hate that type of guy. If you are that that type of guy, cut it out. srsly.

2. If I am asked to chose between a supermodel and a transvestite, I'll take the transvestite; this person is much more socially-radical, and s/he promotes a fluid interpretation of gender. The supermodel is incredibly problematic.

I'm not saying I don't *get* the metaphor. I just think its premise and execution are incredibly annoying. Almost every commercial is offensive and annoying, but people are always talking about how hip and edgy mac's ad-campaigns are. Whatevs. This commercial makes me associate macs are with suburban, smarmy, white boys who think they're cool just because they read pitchfork and like the films of Quentin Tarantino.

Anyway, the new HP commercials with Jay-Z and Pharell are less annoying. And anything is better than those computer commercials that had the blue men pretending to be processors. Yikes. But it seems to me that very few commercials for computers feature women. And most representations of computer use in tv and movies seem to focus on the geeky "computer guy." Thankfully, Veronica Mars is all about the techie ladies, though the main computer whiz on that show is named -- you guessed it -- Mac.

Rock N Roll High School

re-watching rock n roll high school is making me incredible happy. It pairs well with Valley Girl and is -- I think -- a better movie.


Happy Birthday to Nicole!!!

I Wanna Go

to Ice-T's Rap School!!!!

Ice-T (born Tracy Marrow) will educate the students on a variety of subjects, including learning to rhyme, timing, scratching and break-dancing.

Rap School is geared toward exposing the prep school scholars to Hip-Hop culture, while proving to skeptical parents and faculty that rap can be a positive force.

The show will also concentrate on teaching students how to express themselves through rap, as well as how to find their voices and conquer personal issues such as shyness, speech problems and divorce.

After pressure-packed auditions and recording sessions, the kids' skills will be put to the test with a final exam: opening up for rap pioneers Public Enemy at the acclaimed B.B. King's Club in New York City.

Morbid AND Fluffy

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

so we didn't see the guacamole

But we did watch Dogtown and Z Boys and Valley Girl. I love California.

I also drank a lemon drop. Yowza.

Gotta Cali film to recommend us? We'd love to hear from you!

xoxo ff

calendar

this weekend we are thinking of going to see the world's largest vat of guacomole. How large will it be. I will take a picture, and I will show you.

File Under Gross

I added style.com to my yahoo awhile ago, but today I took it off.




















Fur is so fucking gross. The devil wears prada indeed.

13 going on 30: Chick Flick Sick? Teen Movie Tricks? or Does it Just Have Something to Do with Mark Ruffalo?

You are probably wondering why the hell I am writing about 13 going on 30 *

I like Clueless, Legally Blonde, and Mean Girls. I'm a sucker for six-hour A&E period dramas like Pride and Prejudice and Vanity Fair. My favorite movies growing up were Freaky Friday and Heathers. I think all of these are considered "chick flicks." But I hate crap like Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally. And I can't even watch Affair to Remember or Dirty Dancing -- or --holy hell-- Pretty Woman. [I will never ever stop being shocked by the number of women who list Pretty Woman as one of their favorite movies. Fuck.]

Anyway, the subject of chick flicks and teen movies** has been on my mind since I watched 13 going on 30 and found it totally compelling. I didn't see it in theaters. I'm pretty sure it was out around the same time as Mean Girls, and I didn't even go to the movies to see that. I haven't ever really been a fan of Jennifer Garner, despite the fact that she kicked ass on Alias (I just couldn't get past its inferiority in comparison to Buffy). It was only because it was recommended by a friend that I even considered watching this movie.

Anyway, 13 going on 30 seems to exists in the Bermuda triangle of genres -- somewhere between the saccharine Olsen/Disney movie, the chick flick, and the teen movie. It's like Big or Freaky Friday in that's it's a high concept farce that exploits the premise of "be careful what you wish for," but this also means that it must negotiate some pretty, er, creepy scenarios when kids end up in very, um, adult situations. And it's inversion of the Lolita story -- the way the fantasy reveals a grown man's desire for someone with a 30 year old woman's body but with the brain of a 13 year old -- is, um, pretty strange. Moreover, the movie's (apparent) evasion of any explicitly gendered issue is curious; the notions of "nice" and "mean" are diced and discussed, but this doesn't seem to connect to anyone's consciousness re: constructions of femininity. Overall, this movie is an odd cocktail of winsome and creepy, charming and confusing, refreshing and disappointing.

I can't help but wonder if this also says something about this particular cultural moment; Mean Girls and The Devil Wears Prada are two movies which seem content to at once diagnose the conditions that lead to "mean girl" behavior (patriarchy, capitalism) and to ultimately acquiesce to the status quo. While I find both of the aforementioned movies entertaining, I would never call them progressive. In fact, I consider them quite the opposite, especially compared to movies like Heathers and Cruel Intentions.

But I cannot write about 13 going on 30 without mentioning Mark Ruffalo. I've liked him since seeing You Can Count on Me. And his role in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mine was way too tiny (in my version he played the part Jim Carey played). But I didn't even know that he was in 13 Going on 30. I just assumed the male lead was played by Jared Padalecki or some other clown. But it's Mark Ruffalo. And he is really really good.

*Okay, I know what you're thinking. I only felt like talking about this movie because of Ruffalo. That could be true.

**I'll likely be writing more about teen movies in the coming months, as I like to have them on as I work on my teen novel(s). Would love to know what y'all think about this genre.

ETA: The 13 going on 30 dvd comes in a pink case that smells like bubblegum. ick.

question

wtf is up with all the high school violence