lists

My grandmother’s wake and funeral were — of course — very, very sad. I think one of the things that bothered me the most was the music at the wake. It was so … depressing. Now, my grandmother was 86 years old before she was killed by the incompetence of morons; she wasn’t exactly a fan of rock n’ roll. So I didn’t expect them to be playing Def Leppard in the funeral parlor, y’know? But anything would have been better than the canned funeral parlor soundtrack.

I can only hope that when I’m gone someone has the balls to bring an iPod to the wake. And please — if you’re going to even have a wake for me — do it in a house for the love of God. And bring some Maker’s Mark and vodka. If there’s one time when it should be completely acceptable to tip one back, it should be at my freaking wake. So anyway. Don’t play “Ave Maria” or Mozart (although I do loves me some Wolfgang). You don’t have to blast the stereo or anything and start a dance party. But at least listen to something I would have liked.

[click to continue...]

Recent Movies:

• Pineapple Express ***1/2
• Gone Baby Gone ****
• Bottle Shock ** (based on the book Judgment of Paris)
• Gone in 60 Seconds *1/2

Currently Reading:

• Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, from Wall Street to Dubai, by Ben Mezrich
• Nature Girl, by Carl Hiaasen
• How the States Got Their Shapes, by Mark Stein
• The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Ancient Games, by Tony Perrottet
• Batman: The Long Halloween

Five Wonderful Phrases That I Resolve to Use More Frequently in Conversation

1. soup to nuts
2. by hook or by crook
3. ass-over-teakettle
4. dollars to doughnuts
5. tits up

It’s been just over two weeks now that I’ve been using my new Apple MacBook Pro (running OS X 10.5.4), and I think I’m now ready to post a list of the ten things I like most about it.

[click to continue...]

• Jacuzzi and / or hot tub
• the rim of a volcano
• marriage counseling

A Partial List of Artists in My iTunes Library That I Cannot Decide How to Properly Name

• Joan Jett and the Blackhearts or Jett, Joan and the Blackhearts?
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers or Petty, Tom and the Heartbreakers?
• Rilo Kiley or Kiley, Rilo?
• Ted Leo & the Pharmacists or Leo, Ted & the Pharmacists?
• Biz Markie or Markie, Biz?
• John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band or Cafferty, John & The Beaver Brown Band?
• Camper Van Beethoven or Van Beethoven, Camper?
• Lynyrd Skynyrd or Skynyrd, Lynyrd?
• Rob Zombie or Zombie, Rob?

In other news: Dave Davidson was the author of the study.

Friday Five: Websites I Currently Find Myself Visiting Multiple Times Each Day

• LifeHacker
• Metafilter
• UrbanDead
• What Would Tyler Durden Do?
• The Double B

My Five Eight Favorite NPR Names

1. Cokie Roberts
2. Nina Totenberg
3. Mandalit del Barco
4. Korva Coleman
5. Nora Raum
6. Corey Flintoff
7. Liane Hansen
8. Sylvia Poggioli

Friday Five: Things Through Which I Drove on My Way to Work This Morning

1. The Sepulveda Pass
2. a story about wind farms off the coast of Delaware on NPR’s Climate Connections series
3. the I-405/US101 construction zone
4. the red light at the bottom of the Hayvenhurst off ramp
5. what appeared to be a freshly made bowl of puffed cream of wheat in the parking lot of 7-11

From mefi: The 15 Most Outrageous Claims in Pop Music History. Hilarity abounds.

Funny: If ancient Rome had the Internet…

Friday Five: My Last Five Dinners

• 03/11 - Wolfgang Puck’s Spago - LA
• 03/12 - Koi - LA
• 03/13 - Wolfgang Puck’s Cut - LA
• 03/14 - Maloney & Porcelli - NYC
• 03/15 - Sparks Steak House - NYC

Friday Five: Favorite Keyboard Shortcuts

1. CTRL-W (Firefox)
   Closes an open tab.
2. CTRL-S (almost every Microsoft product)
   Saves.
3. CTRL-SHIFT+arrow, SHIFT-END, & SHIFT-HOME (almost every text editor)
   Highlights (selects) a word and / or line of text.
4. ALT-F4 (Windows)
   Closes the current window.
5. ALT-SPACEBAR-X (Windows)
   Maximizes the current window.