Barack the Vote 2

I really don’t want to be too pushy on the Obama issue, but I did want to post a little bit on the whole “Is he Muslim?” issue. A while back, I got the e-mail, as I’m sure did many of you, purporting that Obama’s a radical Muslim. I sort of laughed it off but it has since come to my attention that several people believe this is actually true and refused to vote for him. Now, I’m not trying to say that everyone has to vote for him just because I did (and will); it just distresses me to think that people are for some reason believing an unsubstantiated rumor. If you don’t want to vote for Obama because you disagree with his politics that’s one thing. But I’m disheartened to think that: (1) many don’t take the time to research all the facts to make an informed decision; and (2) many wouldn’t vote for a candidate solely based on their religion. As such, I thought I’d take a moment to post a couple of links that offer some valuable information on this very sensitive subject:

BarackObama.com - Fact Checks

Snopes.com - Who Is Barack Obama?

I will try my best to get off my soapbox now ...

No Weezing the Ju-u-uice

Back when I was in sixth grade, Encino Man was the most hilarious thing I’d ever seen. Now, I may not find it as laugh-out-loud funny as I used to but there is one classic moment that will live in my mind forever.

Robert loves this part, too, and every time one of us makes juice we shout out “No weezing the ju-u-uice!” I don’t know – we’re weird. This came up last night as Robert was mixing up a batch of “jugo” and he got very excited at the idea that that particular scene might be posted on YouTube. Not only is it posted, it’s the very first result shown. I guess we are not alone in our adoration of Rajnish and Kashmir …

The Iceman Cometh

Robert and I rented La Vie en Rose this weekend, (we also rented The Simpsons Movie just in case you think we’re too foofy …), and he busted out a good Iceman-ism I thought I’d share. There is a scene during the movie where a bar is singing Auld Lang Syne on New Year’s Eve and Robert says to me: “Did people sing Odd Long Sang back in 1936?” To which I responded, with a smirk: “Huh?” He could tell he’d stuck his foot in his mouth and tried frantically to backtrack – “Old Long Song? Odd Song Lang?” and many other iterations thereto. By this point, I was cracking up and he was quite frustrated. :o) He makes me laugh … for a smart guy, he can be pretty dumb sometimes!

Just as an aside – the answer to Robert’s question is yes, people probably did sing Odd Long Sang back in 1936. Courtesy of Wikipedia:

The ProQuest newspaper archive has articles dated 1896 that describe revelers on both sides of the Atlantic singing the song to usher in the New Year … Examples follow:
"New Year's Eve in London" (1910) – Usual Customs Observed by People of All Classes… The passing of the old year was celebrated in London much as usual. The Scottish residents gathered outside of St. Paul's Church and sang “Auld Lang Syne” as the last stroke of 12 sounded from the great bell.

Granted the movie takes place in France but let’s just assume that the song was sung all across Europe, shall we?

Project Runway Spoiler...ish (UPDATED)

It's not a "real" spoiler - I don't know who is the ultimate victor. However, the article has a basic rundown of each designer's collection (all five designers currently on the show - Rami, Sweet P, Jillian, Chris and Christian - showed collections so as not to hint at the be-all, end-all winner) along with a few photos (though there are way more pictures of Victoria Beckham than there are of actual ensembles). Very interesting reading ... if you love spoilers like me!

Talk of the Tents

On the Scene: PR Finale! (EW.com)

Courtesy of Blogging Project Runway, photos of:

Sweet P's collection

Rami's collection

Christian's collection

Jillian's collection

Chris's collection

Immature Joke Coming On...

Sooooo ... I was checking out Gawker.com when I came across this enchanting article about Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s candy bar, Big Mo'. Yeah. You read that right. Appropriately, the article's title is "Inexplicable Endorsements." Anyway, I was intrigued so I followed up and discovered this article on other celebrity food endorsements: B-List Celebrity Endorsed Foodstuffs (I had no idea Steven Seagal has an 'Asian Experience' energy drink! I really can't imagine what that tastes like...) Unfortunately, the article did not explain why Dale thought " Big Mo' " was a good name for a NASCAR driver's candy bar!! Did he not think about all the immature giggles just waiting to eek out of every wrapper? Hello?!!! So, after a little digging I found an article from USA Today that explained: Big Mo' is a play off Earnhardt's hometown of Mooresville, N.C., and a moniker he and his close friends have — the Dirty Mo' Posse. Uh huh. Okay. Maybe he needs to put that anecdote on the wrapper because I really don't think the majority of consumers (especially those outside the NASCAR world) are thinking it's short for Mooresville. Seriously.

Top That

There are lots of things I regularly say that I’ve poached from movies … it’s true. It’s taken 10 years but I think Robert has finally figured out which sayings are true ‘Lauren-isms’ and which are lifted from films. :o) Anyway, there’s a song I quote from Teen Witch which no one understands because no one has seen that movie. (It came out in ’89 and is sometimes shown on ABC Family these days … it’s terribly cheesy and not particularly good but I still watch it. I know. The brother is sort of funny if you can get past how much you want to give him a bath and hold his mouth closed when he chews!) The song is one of the corniest parts of the movie – though it’s chockablock full of fromage, especially the final dance sequence – but it’s pretty catchy. Imagine my surprise when I skimmed through EW.com today and saw a tribute to Teen Witch! [Here’s the link: Happy Birthday, Robyn Lively] It features a reenactment of “Top That!” but it just doesn’t do the original justice:

So now if you ever hear me say "I don't really give a {pause} about tryin' to top that!," you'll know where it came from ...

Barack the Vote!!!

My sister, Michelle, is an avid supporter of Barack. She has donated her time, money, voice and fervor to his campaign and, after attending his speech in Chicago last night, she asked me to post this to the blog. Since he got my vote, I am happy to oblige ...

Just as an aside, Robert's dad calls Barack 'Roback' - he has a tendency to butcher certain words (like menudo - Bob calls it "menoodle") and has a family nickname of Iceman because of it. Anyway, Robert and I think it's funny so we call Barack 'Roback' at home, too. Only now Robert has twisted it up in his mind so much he thinks it's 'Rockbama' which is not the joke!! Robert is Iceman, Jr., I guess ...

Comb the Desert!

Robert never reads the blog - even though he just had to have me add him as a contributor - but I had him captive at the computer and forced him to watch my Spaceballs clip. He wanted to know if I could find a clip of them combing the desert and, lo and behold, I did! I must admit, I really love this scene, too, but Robert's favorite line is the last one. It is a classic...

When Will Then Be Now?

One of THE best scenes in Spaceballs ... though, I really love the whole movie. Still, just watching this makes me smile and brightens my day. :o)

I just said that!

I really wish random entertainment knowledge (and sometimes prescient infotainment ramblings) was a viable career option because if it was, I'd be all over it! Dang.

For example, last night I was watching TV with Robert when an ad for Jessica Alba's new film The Eye came on; this prompted me to share a diatribe on her oddly successful career with Robert. It went a little something like this ...

Now, I understand that she's hot and all that but all of her movies STINK! Did anyone see her 2007 offerings (That would be Good Luck Chuck and Awake [which was shot around 2005 but sat on the shelf for a couple years ... always a good sign], if you can't remember)? Yes, yes, I know, people saw the Fantastic Four sequel but that's more to do with it being a comic book movie than a Jessica Alba vehicle. All the movies/TV shows I could remember off the top of my head - Into the Blue, Never Been Kissed, Dark Angel - were not mega-blockbusters. Into the Blue was basically made so that we could ogle Alba and Paul Walker in bathing suits. That, actually, wasn't so hair-brianed an idea ... but I digress. I then checked IMDb.com and rattled off those credits I'd omitted: Honey, Idle Hands, Sin City and The Ten. Were any of these huge star-making movies?!?!! NO!! I don't understand. She's hot but is she that hot?! Hot enough that her body alone is enough to propel her to her next film role? I guess so, because The Eye opened at number 2 ... and now my brain is melting. I just do not get it.

Then, this morning, a small piece of vindication. I stumbled across this article on Defamer.com - Jessica Alba's Career is Rotten - and I felt like I was not alone. (I could have written this article. And how awesome is it that it popped up the day after my own thoughts on the subject? I'll tell you - very.)

I also felt a little pride in myself for having my finger on the pulse of entertainment blogs even when I don't know I do!