Happy Birthday to us!

Ahh the first anniversary. A time for roses, a candlelit dinner, and you whispering sweet nothings onto our comment boards. A year ago today, Red and I (with the occasional help from Dave and Garney) set upon the journey of creating a blog. We knew that the world had a hole only our clever observations on pop culture and current events could fill. And we knew that giving it a confusing, nonsensical name was the best way to package those observations.

I was supposed to give you my Top 5 favorite posts yesterday, but I was too busy destroying Dave. So, with apologies to some amazing pictures of Steve Guttenberg, Red's copious Top 5s and one really funny comment section, here's my list.

5) This one, just because something about the headline always make me laugh. Seriously though, the audacity.

4) Another one that I just love the headline. And I had to give Dave some love after rick rolling him to death.

3) Scarfing down a controversy. Those corgi puppies are still my candle in the dark.

2) State of the Gingers . Where did Red find that picture?

1) Who is your celebrity twin? This post seems like standard fare for our site, and I guess it is, but its sort of like the pinnacle of our standard fare. This is what GitW is all about (is that sad?) - a goofy, personal take on the parade of images we can't escape nowadays. And you all seemed to agree, as this thing got a whopping 21 comments!

Thanks to all you guys for reading our nonsense and taking part in the fun. Here's to (at least) one more year!

Where the F*ck is Carmen San Diego?

Considering the only video games I've ever loved are Tetris, Oregon Trail and Carmen San Diego, this is pretty much the best thing ever:

Dave, You're on Notice

So, today is Dave's turn to pick his top 5 favorite GitW posts from the last year. He says he'll do it tonight...after completing about a million other things...so Liz and I came up with 5 things we will do to Dave if he flakes. Observe:

1. Rickroll him to death. Like, literally, to death. Because I'm sure that's somehow possible.

2. Block his access to YouTube. Which will make him cry. Dave loves YouTube like these two love cake.

3. Steal his collection of throwback jerseys and special issue baseball caps. We'd then sell them for quite a few dollars and put all the cash in the Red's 30th Birthday Party fund. Really, we may do this anyway.

4. Force him to never talk about sports again. This may make him explode.

5. Require him to vote for John McCain. Okay, that may be bordering on cruel and unusual.

Let's hope, for Dave's sake, he doesn't let us all down. Meanwhile, scroll down and read Garney's post from yesterday. It's funny enough to cover 2 days.

Don't make us do it, Dave!

Middle America: Group of states, or state of mind?

I was reading an analysis of Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention, and the analyzer said he thought her dress may have been "too bold for Middle America." This reminded me of a debate that began in my office about a year ago and never quite got resolved: Where is "Middle America"?

When people say Middle America, do they mean the physical middle of the country? Like the midwest? Or are they referring to the middle tier of society? Average folks, like?

I always thought it was the midwest, but someone in my office from Cleveland insists its the middle tier. Though he just might not want to come from "Middle America," since its usually used to describe a bunch of unsophisticated rubes.

Either way, I think this mysterious "Middle America" is chronically underestimated. You don't need to be from New York City to think Michelle Obama's dress looked lovely with her skin tone (though I'll admit I didn't realize it was a dress at first and thought it was a little casual. When I saw the full view, I stood corrected), and you don't need to be from LA to "get" things like The Daily Show and 30 Rock. Also, not everyone in Omaha wears elastic-waste sweatpants all the time and, and not everyone in South Dakota refuses to let their kids read Harry Potter. Furthermore, having grown up on the east coast and now residing on the west, I can assure you there are unfashionable, unitelligent troglodites who dwell by the sea as well, and wouldn't be caught dead in a Whole Foods.

My point being (and I do have one, sort of), is that I have faith in this "Middle America," wherever it is it may be.

5 Random Hugs for the Gingers

I remember a year ago when Red was starting this blog and asked me for suggestions on what to call it and I submitted Pop Cult Sure. For some reason she went with Gingers is the Watchword. At first I thought it was Ginger Sis the Watchword and I was reluctant to accept her invitation to contribute because I had neither red hair nor a vagina. She cleared things up for me though and I figured it would be okay to contribute as I had once worn a red haired wig for Halloween at the age of four when I was forced to be Raggedy Andy since my older sister (Daddy's favorite) wanted to be Raggedy Anne.

So now for the one year anniversary taking place this Friday, all the contributors have been invited to list five personal favorites. However, since none of the entries are really that great I hesitate to use the term "favorite" so instead I have selected five random ones that weren't so bad.

1. What Are Your Pop-Culture Deal Breakers? (May 15, 2008) This is a perfect example of the kind of lunacy that goes on here at Gingers. Red blogs about her "pop-culture" hangups that must be met in a potential mate (with a questionable use of a hyphen). It seems crazy until you think about it and realize she's onto something (about the pop culture criteria; not the hyphen).

2. Gingers are Freaking Funny (January 8, 2008) I'm surprised at how many times I send Red a video link and then find it as an entry here on Gingers. This is one of the rare times I don't get a shoutout for sharing. Still, it serves as a great example of one of the great entries that is simply a one-line intro for a great clip that speaks for itself. If you didn't get a chance to see the clip you can watch it here since the original video is no longer active.

3. Be True to Your School (May 7, 2008) I had to include this entry from Red because of the national attention it received when it topped some kind of list of compatible blogs at the bottom of a report on the same subject for CNN.com. The cocaine factor is an added bonus for this recovering addict. Ah, sweet sweet cocaine.

4. Reel Resurrection: Empire of the Sun (May 12, 2008) I love the Reel Resurrection entries here at Gingers and not just because it ends with erection. Though I don't agree with every title that is highlighted in the series (I pause to reference a great quote from a recent minisode of Rescue Me: In the past 25 years you are the only person in the English-speaking world to use the word "Clue" "good" and "movie" in that exact order.) I have to give Liz kudos for selecting an underappreciated gem like Empire of the Sun.

5. This (mostly) Just In... (May 14, 2008) Another mainstay of the Gingers universe, it's always reassuring to read these entries by Red and be reminded that I am not the only one who wastes their time thinking about things that ultimately don't matter. This particular installment was noteworthy because it was particularly more gay than usual. And by gay I mean in the style of the flaming homosexual male that seems to mold this little blog family we share here at Gingers.

So there you have it, Gingers. Apparently May was a good month. Here's a birthday hug for you:

Best Of The Watchword: Red's Picks

This Friday marks the one year anniversary of Gingers is the Watchword (I know. I can't believe we made it either). To celebrate, all four of our lovely contributors (yes, even Dave) will grace you with a list of their top 5 favorite GitW posts from the past year. I get to go first because I am the most bossy. Enjoy:

Things I Learned at Comic Con by Liz - One of my all time favorite posts because it was the first time we had, like, insider information. I love insider information! Makes me feel like such an insider. Also, Liz is a hugely talented writer and every time she posts it's sure to be hilarious.

The Radiohead Covers by Garney - I had a hard time choosing my favorite Radiohead cover, so I've linked you to all of them. Garney calling me to sing as other people is one of the highlights of my life.

Happy Singles Awareness Day by Red - Sadly, this collection of 100 or so words is, in my opinion, the funniest thing I've ever written.

Forgotten Classics by Garney - Garney knows more about movies than anyone ever (take that Scorsese). This post is an excellent example of an email conversation between Garney and myself turning into a great blog post, rife with discussion possibilities. EW needs to hire us both. Bring some credibility to that rag.

Who is Your Blogger Crush? by Red - Crushes are a hot topic for me, as I'm sure you've noticed. This post in particular is near and dear to my heart because it got me free drinks one very fun night this summer and really, isn't that the reason we all started blogging in the first place? For free drinks?

Honorable Mentions (aka cheating): Last Walk in the Garden by Liz and Red (because it was a great good-bye to The Wire), Leprechaun? In a Tree? by Dave (because Dave is the YouTube king!) and Sweet Persephone's Pomegranate Seeds by Liz (because nothing has ever made me laugh harder).

Your moment of zen

All right, its the weekend. I'll send you off smiling with this video of a bunny rabbit in a bowl. Don't say I never gave you anything.

Adorable baby bunny @ Yahoo! Video

You know the vice president doesn't even do anything, don't you?

Barack Obama is going to name a running mate. It will happen. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of our lives. Or for the rest of the campaign season at least.

But if you follow the dang ol’ Mainstream Media (everyone’s favorite nemesis, including my own, mostly because it doesn’t pay me enough) you’d think if Obama doesn’t pick a running mate RIGHT NOW, the very fabric of being that holds together the human race would collapse in upon itself, leaving nothing but dark matter in its place. (As if that would be a bad thing. God, you're so racist).

Today I looked at CNN’s Web site (which I sometimes do to see what “The Big Story of the Day is,” even though their lead piece is usually just something telling me that all my neighbors are child molesters). At the top of the page, there was a “breaking news” scroll that said reporters were camped out outside VP candidate Tim Kaine’s house.

Really CNN? This is what you’re putting your resources into? Camping an army outside a possible VP’s house and then telling us about it? What, do you think we’re impressed?

A) We’re not
B) Even if this Kaine guy wins, he’s not going to run outside like a kid with his straight A report card or a starlet with an Oscar and gush to you hacks all about it. He'll be in seclusion until him and Obama can do some kind rally together, most likely with a subtle "Hope/Change" motif. Numbskulls.
C) Why don’t you put this kind of effort into, I don’t know, finding out how badly the current president is spying on us, or just what the situation on the ground in Iraq really calls for?

I’m heaping all this criticism on CNN, but really, all the big cable outlets and what not are doing this. It’s just moronic. Also, why don’t they care so much about who McCain’s VP choice is?

Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox now, but seriously, if I see one more headline to the effect of, “Possible Obama VP sited eating orange. What could it mean?” I might have to do the unthinkable and not read the Internet or watch TV all day. Please, no one wants it to come to that. No one!

At the Movies: Tropic Thunder

Liz and I decided we are dating. Lately, every movie we see, we see together. Last night, we ventured out to see Tropic Thunder. Written and directed by Ben Stiller, Tropic Thunder is the story of 5 actors, too big for their war movie, who are dropped into the Vietnam jungle by their crazy director (the fabulous Steve Coogan) in order to capture some real action and emotion. Of course, everything goes wrong and hilarity, as she loves to do, shows up in spades (I don't even know what that means).

Other than the pretty funny plot, the movie is all about Robert Downey Jr., as a hardcore method actor playing an African American Army sergeant (am I alone in thinking RDJ is the best thing on screen every time he's on screen? Man, he's so great. I'm so glad he's cleaned up and making awesome movies. I love him), and Tom Cruise as an insane studio head (I don't want to say too much, but damn. Cruise is funny). Also, Jay Baruchel is great as the newbie actor on the set. He's so adorable. It's nice to see him in something non-Apatowian.

There are some groan moments (as I think we've come to expect from a Ben Stiller movie) and Jack Black is misused, but over all, Tropic Thunder is funny, entertaining and worth your time and hard earned cash. Check it out.

Let Them Consume Alcohol

More than 100 universities across the US are urging law makers to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 in an attempt to curb binge drinking. The arguments are varied: kids are drinking anyway, why not make it legal; if a kid is old enough to vote and go to war, they are old enough to drink; if we lower the drinking age, maybe future drunken starlets will show us their lady areas on the regular (pervy college deans). I say, whatever. You can't really regulate human behavior, so why spend so much GD money trying? Am I right? Yes. Of course I am.