An Internet Sensation is Born (Possibly...We Hope)

Well, here it is...the debut single from The Let's Make Outs. It's very rough, as we recorded it in my living room in less than 2 hours, but I kind of love it. Hope you do, too.



A million, zillion thanks to the gorgeous and talented Fawless for the video. You, my dear, are the best!

Your Weekend in Pop Culture

I'm thinking of trying this as a weekly thing. We'll see how that goes.

Here's what you should be doing this weekend (when you're not, you know, going outside and socializing and making out with your significant others you lucky bastards!!@!). Anyway...

Tonight!

Series Freaking Finale of Dollhouse - Oh, Tahmoh Penikett, I'll miss you so.

Second Episode of Caprica - The Battlestar Gallactica prequel had a promising first episode. Tonight, we finally see if it's really any good. (Christ, I'm a nerd.)

Tomorrow!

Jon Hamm on SNL - The second hottest person on Mad Men (behind C. Hend, natch) hosts for the second time. I might tune in. I heard he shaved his beard though. This gives Red a sad face :( She likes beards...a lot...

Sunday!

Go to the Movies - I'm thinking of seeing Sherlock Holmes or It's Complicated (don't you judge me!) or 44 Inch Chest or The White Ribbon. We'll see how the mood strikes me.

The Grammys - As Liz mentioned last week, there's some 3D element. I mean, obviously. Absolutely everything MUST be in 3D these days. It's like the 1950's all over again!

TBD!

Also, sometimes this weekend, Liz and I are getting together to record some music. So think lovely thoughts that all goes well and maybe I'll post our debut single here on Monday! The excitement never ends 'round these parts!

Happy weekend, friends!

RIP J.D. Salinger

He was 91. Liz had him in her Death Pool (I think). No one had seen or heard from him in years, but I'll still miss him. Catcher in the Rye is one of the greatest things I've ever read. It amazed me how differently I viewed Holden Caulfield when I was in high school (and thought he was a genius) and later in college (when I thought he was so immature and naive). I also really dug Franny and Zooey. Seriously talented man. The world has lost one of the greats. RIP, sir.

How I Spent My Weekend

Hey ya'll. So, it was another crummy weekend 'round these parts. Here's what went down:

I went to LA on Friday and had a lovely time...until I decided to barf in my BFF's new BMW. Worst. Friend. Ever. This incident lead me to realize I can't drink anymore...probably ever. Is life really still worth living?

Saturday I spent crying at Conan O'Brien's final show. RIP you redheaded genius!

Yesterday, I went to see Youth in Revolt (Meh) and was asked to donate to the Repeal Prop 8 fund...which I did...because someday gay marriage may be my only option. Anyway, I got a bad feeling about the whole thing and went home to discover $200 worth of fraudulent charges on my debit card. GD Prop 8 scammers! I'm never donating to anything, ever again. Sucks to be you, Haiti!

So yeah. That happened. Oh! I also turned on Word Verification (after years of complaining about it on other sites). We are just so hilarious and popular people who can't speak English won't stop spamming us. Ugh! I hate everyone.

I love you though! Hope this week sucks less for all of us. Hugs!

This (sort of) Just In

Sorry for the lack of blogging this week. It probably has something to do with the confusion and fear Red and I are experiencing because water droplets keep falling from the sky. Seriously, I’ve lived in San Diego for more than 4 years, and I have never seen it rain this hard for this long. That’s what she said.

To make up for the absence, here are some pop culture tidbits you may not be aware of:

- Caprica starts tonight. No secret that we were big fans of Battlestar Galactica in these parts, so I’m looking forward to this prequel series. The first two episodes that they released a few months back were kind of odd, but had potential.

- Conan’s final show is tonight. A new show is born, another dies. Circle of life. Turn, turn, turn, etc. NBC’s poor decision making comes to a head tonight as Conan O’Brien hosts his final Tonight Show. Tune in and give him record ratings, just for the hell of it.

- New She & Him song! I think I like it. Stream it here.

- The Grammys are going 3-D. I’m not exactly sure how this work’s, but the Grammy Awards (Jan. 31) are doing a 3-D tribute to Michael Jackson.

- The Sundance Film Festival is happening. Just thought you might like to know.

Lost Weekend

Well that sucked.

I spent the past weekend on a bit of a roller coaster. Saturday started with a fun trip to the Staples Center in LA, but was marred when the boyfriend’s car started lurching and bleeding transmission fluid. (Not to mention the Bruins lost in a shootout). If you ever have the chance to drive from LA to San Diego with three people crammed into the cab of a tow truck, then your life has taken an unpleasant turn.

Then came Sunday. I brought a turkey to Red’s house and our friends brought sides and everything was delicious, but by the time the turkey was ready in the 2nd quarter of the playoff game between the Chargers and Jets, it was becoming clear that all was not well in Qualcomm Stadium. The Bolts ended up losing after the kicker missed THREE field goals (As Garney said: “You’ve gotta be Kaeding me!”), and some uncharacteristically boneheaded penalties. (Honestly, who kicks a penalty flag)?

Then, to cap it all off, we watched a Golden Globes telecast that ended with James Cameron speaking Na’vi.

The Globes had their moments (Yay Mad Men, Michael C. Hall, Christoph Waltz, Chloe Sevigny and Alec Baldwin. On behalf of Red, Yay Glee) but come on: Avatar deserves every technical award they make, but “Best Picture” should take into account things like acting, writing, and stealing plots wholesale from a 15-year-old Disney movie. Obviously it doesn’t matter - all awards shows are PR exercises – but that doesn’t mean I can’t be annoyed.

To top it all off, I'm working today when half the world gets it off. Here’s hoping the next few days are better. Of course it’s raining in San Diego, so the apocolypse should be here in 3, 2, 1….

How You Should Spend Your Weekend

Mmmmm...Phillip and Vincent. Choices, choices...

Dudes, Red is tired. It's been a long week. I have some friends in town and they insist on doing things like "going out for dinner, drinks and poetry slams" and "socializing." Gah! My Wii Active trainer Tami is gonna so pissed at me!

Anyway, here's some shizz going down this weekend you should probably check out:

Friday Night: Dollhouse - Only 2 episodes left! Does anyone else watch this show? Anyone?

Saturday/Sunday: Football - This is who we're all rooting for, okay? Saints, Ravens, Vikings and Chargers. THIS CANNOT BE DISPUTED!!!

Sunday Night: Golden Globes - This year should be pretty great with Ricky Gervais as host. He is truly hilarious. I was going to do a predictions post, but I have no idea who will win anything...other than Christoph Waltz, who is favored to win Best Supporting Actor, something I called on Aug. 21. I am amazing. I'm also pulling for Jeff Bridges to win Best Actor for Crazy Heart because The Dude really gives a terrific performance and Michael C. Hall for his always stellar turn on Dexter.

Monday: Do Nothing - The first holiday since the holidays is gonna effing rule as I spend it on my couch, watching TV and Netflix with my new cats. Does like get sweeter, friends? I think not.

What awesome things are you getting up to this weekend?

Helping Haiti

It's hard to write about things like the upcoming season premiere of Lost, or my intense search for free copies of the new Spoon and Vampire Weekend albums when the terrible news out of Haiti keeps getting worse and worse.

The earthquake that hit the tragedy-prone country a few days ago may have killed as many as 50,000 people. News reports are grim and getting grimmer. So, we're doing a PSA kind of post here at GitW today, letting you know where you can donate to help the survivors.

Yahoo! has an extensive list of places providing aid. Since I'm always game to assuage my First World Guilt by throwing money at problems, I thought I'd tell you my opinions on some of the organizations I've dealt with in the past:

- The American Red Cross is an old standard. They have come under fire lately for using donations more for administrative needs than for helping people, and they spam you to death after you donate. But, they'll probably be leading the charge here.

- OXFAM America predominantly helps children, always a good cause. They send you like, one letter a year asking for more money after you donate. Not bad.

- Doctors Without Borders seems to be a strong group. They won a Nobel Prize, but apparently those aren't hard to win these days. Not too bad with spam and junk mail.

- UNICEF also helps kids, but it's run by the UN, so it's probably a clusterf%*k.

- Catholic Relief Services has a good reputation, except that they don't believe in birth control. I don't really see that coming into play here, unless they send priests to help. Ba-zing! (BTW, as a Catholic, I'm allowed to talk isht about the Church, but none of you Prods can. Sorry, just the way it works).

Hope this is helpful. We're pulling for you Haiti!

And not just because he's a ginger

There's not a whole lot you can say about NBC's late night debacle that hasn't already been said, but I just want to make it clear that this is a pro-Conan blog. All you Jay Walkers - explain yourselves!

The Return of American Idol

Last season, I vowed to stop watching American Idol. I don't really remember why anymore (I think it was because they kept insisting we like that annoying 16 year-old), but, when the new season starts tonight, I'll not be watching for several reasons:

1. I'll respect myself more - Seriously, that show is crap and I feel like a moron for tuning in each week.

2. My roommate will not want to kill me in my sleep - When I told her I wasn't watching Idol this season she said, "Promise?" She's not such a fan of the reality TV. And let's face it...Idol takes up, what? 3 hours every week? That's ridiculous.

3. It's now on opposite Lost - And I'm not missing Happy Pony...errr...Lost.

4. It's rigged - C'mon...you know it's true.

And 5. Not even my grandma watches Idol anymore - And I think we all know, my grandma is the mistress of taste and awesomeness.

So there are my reasons. I think they're good ones and I'm stickin' to them. Of course, I reserve the right to still read BeckEye's wonderfully hilarious recaps each week. Somethings are too good to give up.

Everybody's doing the Electric Glide!

Since my Patriots got eaten alive yesterday, and Red's a San Diego native, the blog is now 100 percent behind the Chargers in next Sunday's playoff game. If you need a reason to get into the spirit of things, here's star running back LaDainian Tomlinson making a fool out of himself. Go Bolts!

Verily, it tied the room together

You guys! Someone wrote a fan fic version of The Big Lebowski as written by Shakespeare. And hilarity ensues. Some notable lines, done Bard syle:

"Sir Donald; thou art out of thy element."

"Were thou to bring a gentle cock to mine bed-chamber, I might help him to success for ten shillings." (inflation, man)

"Yea, well, that be, forsooth, thy opinion, sir."

"Thou speakest rightly, sir. No man misdeals with Joshua Quince, by Jesu."

"I am not Master Lebowski; thou art Master Lebowski. I am the Knave, called the Knave. Or His Knaveness, or mayhap Knaver, or mayhap El Knaverino, in the manner of the Spaniard, if brevity be not in thy soul nor wit. A Knave by any other name would abide just as well."

"‘Orient-man’ is not preferr’d nomenclature."

"The Sabbath; I’ll roll not, God-a-mercy."

Ahhh...to be so clever. Check out the entire thing here.

Too Dumb 2 Blog

Watchword skillz on the decline

Since my brain has now officially become retarded due to years of working in a cubicle, long strings of full sentences are no longer within my skill set.
You can now follow me on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/DWHarrington619

I usually post something about movies some other crap throughout the day. Who knows, if you tweet me enough, maybe I'll start blogging again?

I know there is "Twitter is lame" category here and whichever contributer posted it is wrong. In accordance with my diminished attention span, I will not take the time to look it up.

Yours Truly,

Dave H aka @DWHarrington619

Correction: Best Movies of 2009

Since we're making corrections around these parts, I need to amend my list of top films of the year. It should look like this...

10. Up
9. Star Trek
8. Fantastic Mr. Fox - Only Wes Anderson can make an animated movie so cool and hip. Hipster foxes? The cuss you say!
7. Zombieland
6. Food Inc.
5. Where the Wild Things Are
4. Up in the Air
3. Avatar - I have glimpsed the future and all I can say is, don't go back. Also, Sam Worthington, if you're reading this (and I'm sure you are!), I'd like to have 10,000 of your babies. Call me!
2. Hurt Locker
1. Inglorious Basterds

Thank you and good day.

Matt Kemp + Rihanna = Sad Red

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Correction: Best Movies of the Decade

On a Dec. 18 post titled Best of the Decade: Movies, it was reported that Anchorman was Liz's #9 movie of the decade. However, it has recently come to light that Wet Hot American Summer was made not in 1999 as Liz thought, but in 2001. This means that Wet Hot was in fact Liz's favorite comedy of the decade, and not Anchorman as originally thought. Since the #9 spot was more or less reserved for Liz's favorite comedy of the last ten years, the laws of physics and blogging demand that Wet Hot American Summer replace Anchorman on said list.

Gingers is the Watchword regrets this error.

How could I miss this?

At the Movies: Avatar

Red and I became the last two nerds on earth to see Avatar over the weekend, and as a friend of ours put it, it was shiny.

That’s really the best way to describe a movie that’s at once visibly stunning, and at the same time as wooden and predictable as most action movies.

A snarkier person might say something like, “In other words, it’s a James Cameron film!” but I don’t want to dog on the King of the World today. The world he’s created in Avatar is a revelation. I’ve never seen CGI effects blend so beautifully with actors and tangible sets before. We saw the 3-D version, and it was worth the extra few dollars.

(There are a few great non-CGI visuals as well. Leading man Sam Worthingto is dreamy - even if he can’t quite master an American accent - and Sigourney Weaver is a stone cold fox as usual).

But this is also part of the conundrum of Avatar. Usually, I tell people to wait for the DVD with "meh" movies. But the astounding visuals probably wouldn't translate to the small screen. It really boils down to how you weigh good special effects vs. story, writing and acting, and also how strong your need is to be up to date with popular culture. If you want to get jokes about Elwa and Unobtanium, go see it. If you’re OK being in the dark, it’s probably not worth it.

Besides, it already looks like this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Pandora and the Na’vi. Elwa help us all.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2010 friends. Let's make it a good one.