updates

First off, to update on yesterday's post, I got the results of my chest x-ray, and at least for now I DO NOT have pneumonia. PHEW! But as always they're still worried about infections, so they're changing up my meds a bit. All good in the hood.

And now for an update on my Facebook hiatus. I officially stayed off FB for 24 days. Here is the tally of what I found when I logged on today:

20 notifications
23 new messages
6 friend requests
2 event invites
1 christmas tree request
10 other requests
8 updates

Last but not least, an update on my day - COMPLETELY BORING. No idea why my office is even open when more than 3/4 of my co-workers aren't here. Definitely going to be a Netflix at work kind of day...

arrrgh

good news: RAVENS IN PLAYOFFS!!!


bad news: possibly having pneumonia over new years. off to get a chest xray. wish me luck...

co-worker gift ettiquete

OK so whats the protocol for giving gifts to your co-workers, and even more importantly, to your boss?

In my office, our boss gives everyone a gift, and last year, at least to my knowledge, noone really gave her anything. Unless it was all on the DL and I was unaware. I'm realizing now that was probably the case. B/c I've watched a parade of people head into Kathy's office with gift bags this morning. Doh!

As far as co-workers, the girls in my office did a secret santa, so I thought I was in the clear when I gave the wonderful "I like you: hospitality under the influence" by Amy Sedaris to my friend Roxy, the name I picked this year. But no. I came in this AM to a slew of stuff on my desk from people. Its nothing big - the usual candy canes, holiday coffee mug with candy in it - but I brought absolutely nothing in for anyone. I mean some of my closest friends work with me and I didn't get them anything just b/c I thought that it wouldn't be fair not to gift to everyone, plus we agreed on secret santa.

So what do you think? If I bring in gifts next week am I the slacker of all slackers? Or do I just not bring in anything at all. I mean with all I've had going on, noone would hold it against me...

um wow.

So I'm sitting here on my couch watching SportsCenter, waiting for NFL Countdown to start (a pretty typical Sunday AM for me) and then the most ridiculous commercial came on. Let me describe.

First a shot of the logo for the movie Valkyrie with its release date. Um OK. I have issues with this flick, but more on that later. So then the commercial's Stuart Scott voiceover goes on to talk about Indiana basketball player Dan Dakich. He had to defend Michael Jordan in his last college game for UNC - the 1984 eastern semi-final. Even though Dakich had the flu, his defense held Jordan to 6 for 14 shooting. I'm thinking, wow, thats pretty interesting. I had not known that. Talk of David and Goliath, blah blah. How inspirational! And then the kicker. The commercial wraps with this line:

"Many saw greatness, Dan Dakich dared to stop it."

So here is where they tie in the Valkyrie promotion. Ah Dan Dakich is like Tom Cruise's character in the movie! One problem, that means YOU JUST COMPARED MICHAEL JORDAN TO HITLER!!!


Now I've heard Michael Jordan can be kind of a dick when you meet him in person, but I'm pretty damn sure The Great One never committed mass genocide. He was too busy winning 6 NBA championships, winning 5 NBA MVPs, being a 14 time NBA all-star, and most importantly making Space Jam.


OK, now a quick aside about Valkyrie. I've seen the full preview for this movie about 3 times in the last 2 months. And this is my big issue - Tom Cruise speaks with an American accent, everyone else in the movie has a German or Austrian accent. Now I know, technically the fact they're speaking English at all is incorrect. But I get that a flick with sub-titles won't draw in the crowds they want. Fine. And I get that Tom is the "STAR" and if he can't do an accent, then they won't make him. But if he's using no accent, shouldn't NOONE do the accent? So there is at least consistency? I mean COME ON! Next point: who legitimately is going to see a movie about Hitler on Christmas Day? And we all know how it ends - he doesn't even die! I mean its not even a feel-good ending. WTF Tom Cruise?

33-24 ravens.

yep.

oh murray how i've missed you...

FINALLY. Flight of the Conchords Season 2.

The new season doesn't premiere until January 18th but thanks to the folks at Funny Or Die you can watch the 1st episode of the new season now. Hurray!

pro-bowl bound

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm still really bitter about Sunday. Losses to the Steelers are the worst of them all. Luckily there was some good news for my 3 Ravens boos today. Rizzle, Sizzle, and Ray Ray are all headed to the Pro Bowl. Also going are Le'Ron McClain at full back and Brendon Ayanbadejo for special teams. Beast / teddy bear Haloti Ngata is a 1st alternate but should definitely be starting. Goes to show how little exposure some of our players get outside of the Bmore.

death on wings

watch out steelers - my boos ed rizzle, t sizzle, and ray ray are gonna kick your ass

lily allen covers "womanizer"

I'll admit it, I'm a dork and I like the Britney Spears song "Womanizer". I think being that I'm a girl, this is totally acceptable and I should be exempt from mocking for this.

But today I was checking in over at Dlisted and I heard this Lily Allen cover. And I think I may like it more. Or perhaps the same amount, just in a different way. Decide for yourself...

UPDATE: This song was pulled from YouTube and asstd other websites for legal reasons. If you didn't hear it, guess you'll have to wait til its in wide release.

"everyone only hatin' on you cuz you're dope"

You know what's the best sign that the you are awesome? When you start getting haters.

As wise hottie named Chase once said to Andie: "Don't sweat it - everyone only hatin' on you cuz you're dope..."

The Ravens total awesome-ness is evident from this hilarious KSK post, affectionately titled "Die in a fire, Bawlmer". Love it. LOVE IT. I mean you think this guy is bitter much? He even hates on Natty Boh? No need to bring my sweet Boh into this, sir!

BTW, in case you were wondering the source of this guy's hatred, he's a die hard Skins fan. Tough luck last week buddy.

Anyway, read, enjoy, and happy Friday. And if you're going to the game this Sunday, holla at me. I'll be there. Can't f-ing wait. So nervous. Even more psyched. GO RAVENS!

UPDATE: if for some unforeseen the Steelers manage to pull out a win, I'm sicking Omar Little on their asses...

giant gummy bears!

OK seriously, some of the banner ads on the blogs I've been reading have been pretty randomly weird and/or awesome lately. Observe, GIANT GUMMY BEARS! On a stick!

Candy lovers rejoice! The Giant Gummy Bear on a Stick represents the most delicious candy confection that man has ever produced. Hand made (with gloves on) in the US, the Giant Gummy Bear is 88 times larger than a standard gummy bear. Each Giant Gummy Bear weighs half a pound and comes on a stick for easy, mess-free snacking.

At first I thought this was more awesome than creepy - um its 88 times the size of a normal gummy bear! But that was until the part where the description assures me that they were wearing gloves when they made my giant gummy bear. Leaning more toward the creepy now.

man babies!

So in my boredom today I stumbled upon this bizarre yet hilarious website - Man Babies

The premise? Oh its quite simple really. Take pictures of dads holding babies. Switch their heads. Post online. Voila! Hilarity ensues.

new cut copy - hurray!

Head on over to Pretty Much Amazing to hear some new Cut Copy! Yay!

(thanks to Detter for finding this!)



p.s. Dan Whitford = Brad's aussie doppelganger.

neverending netflix queue - chuck

Thank you Netflix for giving me a new TV obsession. I totally heart CHUCK.

But I really shouldn't be surprised. After all, the show is created by Josh Schwartz, same dude who gave us The O.C. and Gossip Girl. I know that might scare some folks off of this awesome show but don't let it. Chuck is by no means as girly or teen based as Schwartz's other series. BUT it does have 3 "Schwartz-ian" elements. Observe:

1. An awesome soundtrack: A good place to hear new bands to add to your iPod.

2. A Seth Cohen character: All these series have a lovable nerd character, that is supposedly an social outcast but actually is hot and super sweet. Once the hot female leads gets over his "weird dorkiness" they always fall for the Seth Cohen (and so do all of us who watch). See Seth Cohen from the O.C., Dan Humphrey from Gossip Girl, and duh, Chuck from Chuck..

3. Obsurd plotlines: And we aren't talking subplots, we're talking primary action on these shows. See the Cohen family bringing home and adopting Ryan, a 16 year old criminal, or any Marisa plot from later seasons of the O.C.; Dan and Serena start dating only to learn their parents used to bang 20 years earlier, or any plot involving Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl; Chuck opens an email filled with CIA secrets and they are downloaded to his brain.

ipod shuffling - trick daddy

My boss Kathy was kind enough to give me an iPod Touch for Christmas last year. And I absolutely love it. But lately I've found myself reverting back to my old 3G signature iPod from 2004. Does it have awesome graphics or cool technical features? Nope. But it does have my entire music catalog from my college Dell laptop (2000-2005 R.I.P.). The music is super random. Old Phish shows, cheesy pop music, tons of frat party type hip hop. Its wonderfully horrible. Or horribly wonderful. But its chock full of memories.

So, this morning while I was in the shower the iPod shuffled its way to an old school fave of mine - Trick Daddy. So for your enjoyment, some TD highlights...

"Shut Up" - have to include on this list b/c it contains one of my all time favorite rap lyrics - "are those Bugle Boy jeans ya wearin'?" "hell na ho you know dey Polo!"


"Take It To The House" - my beer pong anthem of the summer of '01


"I'm a Thug" - don't tell me you don't like this song. Everyone loves this song.


"Tuck Ya Ice" - I've never heard this until today. And I'm not a huge fan of the song. But when I was searching YouTube for TD videos I found this one and it has OMAR LITTLE from the Wire. And as we all know, anything with Omar is goddamn awesome.


You know you want to download some TD tunes right now. Do it. Do it.

daytime tv discoveries - trivial pursuit: america plays

This morning I woke up with a fever so I didn't go into work. Now being sick is never fun, but one perk of staying home sick is discovering new horrible daytime television. Today's discovery: Trivial Pursuit: America Plays (from now on to be referred to as TPAP)

Now I love Trivial Pursuit, so when I saw that my TiVo Bob wanted to change the channel from the random home improvement show I was watching on HGTV to TPAP I thought, "wow, Bob really DOES know me!" But wow, was it a train wreck to watch. First off, its hosted by Christopher Knight (aka Bobby Brady aka the dude that married the crazy chick from America Next Top Model that he met on the Surreal Life, Adrienne Currt).

I feel so bad for this guy. He seems so nice. But here he just looks exhausted and beat down in his ill fitting suit. He should be at home on a couch living off of the Brady Bunch syndication royalties. But instead that psycho model bled his Brady money dry and now he has to host a crappy syndicated game show.

My other issue, compared to the board game, the questions on TPAP are totally moronic. Because "America" can submit their own categories and questions via video. In the 5 minutes I could bear to watch, here is was a sampling of what America thought was TP worthy:

Category: Vegas
Question: "What hotel on the strip is shaped like a pyramid?"

Category: Hip-hop
Question: "Which hip hop group had the 1st album to hit #1 on the billboard charts?"

Category: Holidays
Question: "What holiday is celebrated on June 14th?"

What happened to "Arts & Literature" or "Science & Nature"? I mean VEGAS? Really?!

time for a facebook hiatus

my challenge, if i choose to accept it - don't go on facebook at all until after christmas.

lately i've found i've become too dependent on facebook as a means of communicating with people. now don't get me wrong - fb has its merits - finding people you've lost touch with, sharing photos (this is particularly wonderful for ppl like me who never takes my own pics), and esp keeping touch with those "acquaintances" who may not have your cell number or email address. but i've realized that fb, like texting, is really just a passive way of communication. if i want to talk to someone, or if they want to talk to me, how about using the phone. or even a direct email is a tad more personal. just a thought.

yes, i know this probably seems hypocritical, as i'm typing this on my blog. i mean how much more passive aggressive could one be? but frankly, i assume noone reads this, so i'm using this as a place to write down my thoughts for me. if someone else reads them, great. if not, at least i'm venting somewhere.

so moral of the story, i won't be facebook-ing for a while. and after a few weeks if i don't miss it, i'll delete my account. and if i do miss it, then hey, at least i put on a nice little personal social experiment for a bit there.

worst/best music video of all time

Brent said it best

"best music video ever! That just made my day."

ENJOY!

holiday gossip from the north

My pals in the interactive department over at Planit have put together a great holiday blog called Northern Exposure Gossip. Check it out to get in the holiday spirit, hear some North Pole gossip, and kill some time on this slow moving Friday...

Looks like Frosty's been hitting the pipe again...

flacco has arrived

I've been slow to jump on the Joe Flacco bandwagon. Many years as a Ravens fan has made me wary of our quarterbacks. There is all the hype, then you get all excited for the new one but then they inevitably let you down (I'm looking at you Boller!). But no one can deny that Flacco's play this season has been impressive for a rookie I mean check out these stats:



But to me, the one true sign that Flacco has become "the real deal" is his new horrible yet amusing TV spot for Mother's. I've spent the better part of the morning looking for video. But unfortunately its too new to have hit the web. But watch ESPN for an hour or so and you're sure to catch "Rookie Hazing with Joe Flacco". The film quality is bad, the premise is lame, the voice over sucks. But great Ravens have had a history with these shitty commercials.

Example 1: Eastern Motors - featuring Ray Lewis. I find these to be the most justifiable of the bad local ads because you know Ray Ray got a free car(s) out of it.





Example 2: Gebco Insurance featuring Jonathan Ogden. My personal favorite local Ravens commercial. I mean look at him dance. Love it!



So Flacco, if 2 future Hall of Famers can make garbage commercials like these, then maybe the future will be just as bright for you. Good luck young one.

muppet love

Thanks to Detter and Quarterlifeparty for posting this LCD Soundsystem video for "New York, I Love You"



It reminds me of 3 things:

1. How much I like LCD Soundsystem and need to update my iPod

2. How I love Muppets, especially in music videos



3. How excited I am to see "New York, I Love You" when it comes out in February



seriously, like everyone and their mother is in that movie, but it looks really good.

its 3D!

I've seen exactly 2 movies in 3-D, and both were an, um, interesting experience

1. Jaws 3 (aka the one where Jaws gets into Sea World): I've never watched it with the appropriate 3D shades, but all I know is that when they re-run this on TV, the 3D parts look horrible. Not even the fact that Dennis Quaid and the mom from "My So-Called Life" are in it can save the situation.



2. Captain EO : the Michael Jackson 3D movie that they used to show at Epcot Center at Disney World. I remember being 8 the first time I saw this, and the 3D gave me motion-sickness and my dad had to take me out of the theater. BTW, can you believe Francis Ford Coppola directed this garbage?



Granted, both these movies came out in the early to mid 80's, so the quality isn't going to be the best. But this is what I have in my head when I think of "3D".

So when I read today in the Sun that they are going to start broadcasting football games in 3D, I definitely had mixed reactions. If its done well, it could totally enhance the football watching experience. If its not, well then it could just be a distraction from the game.

Someday soon, that long pass downfield by Joe Flacco will appear so close that you might be tempted to reach for it from your easy chair. Or the pass rusher swarming the Ravens quarterback will seem so real that you'll be ducking along with Flacco.

That kind of visceral, "you are there" fan experience is the promise of three-dimensional broadcasting of sporting events, a promise that might begin to see fruition tonight when the Oakland Raiders play the Chargers in San Diego.

For the first time, an NFL game will be broadcast live in 3-D, and that version will be shown to invited audiences in New York, Boston and Los Angeles. Eight digital 3-D cameras will capture the action, and the signal will be transmitted to theaters where the game will be shown on 3-D enabled movie screens and similarly equipped big-screen monitors.

Read the full article Baltimore Sun article here

So what do you think? Sports in 3D - good or bad? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

fun fact for the day

and now your fun fact for the day...

We've all heard that Coke used to have actual cocaine in it. But did you know that 7-up also had a drug additive?

Fascinating Fact: 7-Up - invented in 1920 contained Lithium - the drug commonly prescribed now to sufferers of bi-polar disorder.

The drink was originally marketed as a hangover cure - due to the inclusion of lithium citrate. It was released just a few years before the Wall Street crash of the 1920s and it was marketed under the name “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda” - quite a mouthful! The name was changed to 7-Up shortly after its release but lithium remained one of the ingredients until 1950. Some popular myths surround the name of the drink - but the name is most likely due to the original recipe containing 7 ingredients (with the “up” portion relating to the lithium) or the fact that lithium has an atomic mass of 7.

For more random food facts check out here

bowling with friends

Obviously the above photo isn't real. Not because its with Mike & Mike. No, its because anyone who remotely knows me that I could never have a bowling trophy as I am a HORRIBLE bowler. That is unless there are those bumper things in the gutters like they used to have at birthday parties when we were kids. Or of course if its Wii bowling...

That doesn't mean I don't enjoy attempting to bowl. I'm down to go to Mustang Alley anytime. If for those yummy Old Bay / Honey / Vinegar wings if nothing else.

Anywho, if you want to make your own photo with an ESPN Radio host, just click "Create Your Own" above. Then upload your pic and you can too can have a bowling team shot with Mike & Mike. Or if you prefer you can go biking with Mike Tirico or scuba diving with Colin Cowheard. Personally I just wish there was a slow dancing option with my boo Scott Van Pelt (pictured below dressed as Captain America). He's such a dork but I love him anyway. Being a Terps fan certainly doesn't hurt his case either :)

neverending netflix queue - mad men

I've been pushing season 1 of Mad Men down my Netflix queue for the past couple months. There was just so much hype behind it, especially in the advertising world which i am so lucky/unlucky to be a part of. Anyway, I just thought I'd be disappointed. Well I finally finished watching the last disc and I must say, I understand the critical acclaim - it really was a pleasure to watch.

At first Peggy really bugged me, because I could only envision her as Zoey, President Bartlett's youngest daughter from the West Wing. But as they started putting her in those absurd fat suits as she got progressively more pregnant, the separation was much easier. Because not only did she not look like Zoey, she barely looked like a real person anymore. Lol. I wish I could find fat Peggy pics, but you don't even want to know what comes up when you Google "fat Peggy" - lets just say its a good thing I'm not at work right now...

Speaking of West Wing, can I mention how much I heart that they are showing reruns on Bravo again? So so good.

the nightman cometh

for your entertainment, a behind-the-scenes look at the It's Always Sunny episode "The Nightman Cometh" aka the Day Man Musical episode:



and for those that didn't see the episode, here is the kickass final musical number:

my 1st post

Well here it finally is. My blog. I've been meaning to get this started for a while. A place to vent. To place my random musings. To keep friends and fam updated on my life.

It took going to a seminar on social media for work to remind me to do it, but alas, here it is.

I'm feeling a tad brain dead and un-interesting right now. So just I'll leave you with this sick pic of Mark Clayton, and his awesome one-handed grab from Sunday's game against the Bengals (courtesy of the baltimoresun.com)...