stop-right now

this is yet another reason not to have cable tv. "donna" has her own reality show starting this sunday on vh1. 90210 where are they now? who cares?

scary business

ryan and i watched most of "the future of food" last night. it's a documentary on genetically modified foods and how the monsanto co. is trying to control the whole world's food supply (my take). monsanto is the company that sells ROUNDUP weed killer. they are supposedly making a "terminator" seed that makes it impossible for farmers to take seed from this year's crops and use them again next year. the "terminator" seed is only good for one growing season. one word-MONEY! what scares me the most is that they are engineering these creepy "genetically-modified" seeds/food and these GMO (genetically modified organism) ingredients are in pretty much everything we eat. here's a list of some foods that do and don't contain GMO ingredients-link

want to know what the hell GMO is and why it might be bad? link

you may not give a rat's about this, but the documentary is quite interesting and worth a watch. be prepared-it's definitely not a mindless movie.

becoming famous

well, i thought that by having my top 5 fave songs played on npr i would become famous. that might've happened if the host didn't address me as "julie". on the other hand he did pronounce "koch" correctly. you know what-maybe i don't want to be famous. they might put me in a pizza hut commercial with a short skirt on throwing cheese-filled pizza crust into some minor's mouth.

dorksville

i had the privilege of talking for 2 minutes with david dye yesterday. he's the host of "world cafe" on npr. out of sheer dorkiness, i emailed him my top 5 songs list b/c every week he plays a listener's list. so, he calls me up and we chat. i sound a bit like phyllis diller b/c my allergies are going nuts. the recording was for his friday show (tonight), but i think that show actually airs on sunday from 8-9pm on 91.3 in lexington. my list goes a little something like this:

1. mockingbird by ryan adams
2. i might be wrong by radiohead
3. black star (a radiohead song) performed by gillian welch and david rawlings
4. last goodbye by jeff buckley
5. peg by steely dan (good memories)

ryan wants to put groove is in the heart by dee-lite on his list. don't tell him, but it probably won't be chosen.

this just in

spring is here! this is the season of festivals and i have found the festival for you! (the you is generic b/c i really don't know who i'm talking to). DUKESFEST 2006! that's right you dukes of hazzard fans. at the beginning of june, nashville music city will host this glorious event. the general lee might even show up. i guess the whole thing would suck if the car didn't even come. let me know if you want any more info. maybe we can get a group and caravan. i'm getting my daisy dukes out right now! woohoo!

message in a bottle

for those of you who don't already know about mcsweeney's, it's a website of lists. some funny, some just flat out random. i found one about sting's possible "other" names. that sting, he's so hot right now.

link: sting's names

urkel and jesus

this is one heck of a sermon.

link: reverend urkel

mean dinner

what is the worst thing that you could serve someone for dinner? i'm asking because i'm tempted to serve butter bean pie for family dinner this week. it's savory and delicious, but is it mean? do people this far north still eat butter beans?

so weird

what the...? i just found out that ben harper and laura dern are married and have a small child. i would've never put those two together, but now that i think about it-it's kind of cool. i guess.

wrestlemania 2006

the hollaback girl vs. deborah harry. very scary. who's your pick?

we love tv preachers

this made me laugh out loud.

link: farting preacher

your xxx movie name

ryan and i were having a conversation with james and anna walsh a few weeks ago and discovered an appropriate way to figure out your xxx-adult movie name. your first name is the name of your first pet and your last name is the name of the first street you ever lived on. ryan's is "henry rhett". very sexy. very usable. i can't give mine...too inappropriate. what's yours?

wrestlemania 2006

ROUND TWO...owen wilson vs. lance armstrong. what do they have in common? they've both dated sheryl crow and they're both from texas. who's your pick?

wrestlemania 2006

ROUND ONE...dr. phil vs. dr. dobson. who's your pick?

spongeback mountain

james dobson would enjoy this parody...

link: spongeback mountain

for homestar runner fans

link: new strong bad email

THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS...

FROG LEGS!

alright, this is the deal. i give you culinary geniuses the secret ingredient and we'll see who comes up with the best recipe. this is only the beginning...

hey sweet thing

in honor of lent, i'm having a best sweet thing day on this blog. and i just wanted to put this big pint of chunky monkey on my blog. these are my favorites in no particular order. PS...newman o's are significantly better than oreos. what is your fave sweet thing?

jimmy fallon/parker posey dance for pepsi

these people are funny. link: pepsi commercial.

pimpalicious

i was reading a blog today and came across this doozy. i just have to share it with my special friends.

link: find your pimp name

take me out to the ballgame

major (boring) league baseball starts today with the rockies playing at the white sox. brrr. i guess it's only spring training so they're probably in florida. thank god. as boring as MLB baseball is-baseball is one of the first signs of the coming of spring. farm league is enjoyable (with a cheap beer in a plastic cup involved), but college baseball is where it's at. it's not as jam-packed as a football game and it's a bit more relaxed. unless you're the psycho mother of one of the players. a blog on psycho sports-moms will come later don't you worry. just think about it...nachos and cheese w/jalapenos, peanuts in the shell, sunflower seeds that you can crack open with your teeth, bud light, coors light, miller lite, frozen lemonade, sunshine, friends, people watching, cheering. and then there's the game. i'm enjoying this day even though i mourn the loss of liquids that taste for 40 days. i love jesus and spring. go cubs!

the mighty cranberry

could cranberry juice actually help prevent cavities? this article seems to think so. cranberry dental goodness.

silly bit of gossip...

i love my housemates. these people in the pictures don't live in our house, but ty and lisa samson are fun to chat with about mindless topics on occasion. like famous people and their lives. who cares? but it's fun. i've heard that lindsay lohan is hanging out with my new favorite alt-country guy, ryan adams. that is actually disturbing news to me. does he want more media attention? dating lindsay lohan is a cheap move, buddy. maybe she likes rockers? why doesn't she just date mick jagger. obviously she likes older men. anyways, i hope that this is just a rumour.

brokeback to the future

you've got to check this out. http://albinoblacksheep.com/video/brokebackfuture

what were they thinking?

my friend, will samson www.willzhead.typepad.com, has started a "name that caption" series in his blog. quite funny! so, along those lines, i'm starting a "what were/are they thinking" series. this first one baffles me. billy bob and angelina. what were they thinking?

aaaahhhh!!!!

hey, if this guy came to your front door would you convert to mormonism?

back home

well, ryan and i just finished a week-long trip to visit family and friends in texas. besides the fact that dallas is a concrete jungle, i love texas. the mexican food (and margaritas) flow like water to my soul. the bbq brisket is out of this world (and i do love my alabama pork-b-q). it was such good therapy to visit with friends-some i haven't seen since my wedding and some that i haven't seen since i was 17.

one of the highlights was when ryan and i took a detour through....CRAWFORD, TX! that there (up top) is picture of this god-forsaken town. i thought we'd at least see somebody political or cindy sheehan, the only human we saw was the girl in the souvenir shop. wow, just think about it-a souvenir shop in crawford, tx. let's just say that if you want a life-size cardboard cutout of the W, then this is your place.

actually, we enjoyed austin quite a bit. we walked up to a place called mt. bonnell. a "mt." in texas is only a few stairs up to an overlook, but i was determined to find lance. alas, even though we were looking over his luxurious ex-wife's neighborhood, we didn't see that sleezbag, i mean top-rate athlete.

try texas sometime. you'd never think it, but the state has so much going on. well, just don't go in the summer.

the bicycle god and middle-aged party girl split?

seriously, i was starting to like sheryl crow. should we be surprised? i'll bet that it was motherhood that scared her off...
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9248867/crow_armstrong_announce_split?rnd=1139245738562&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.872

6 more weeks of winter...whatever.

i heard that the groundhog saw his shadow today. hey, if there's to be six more weeks of winter then that's fine with me. it's winter now with a 55 degree high in lexington, ky. can't beat that. does that groundhog know about global warming?

Weekend Update SNL funny

POEHLER-"A 37-year old woman who is seven months pregnant by a 15-year old boy said this week that she preferred older men, but the teenager aggresively wooed her. Hey, who wouldn't succumb to that? Am i right, Tina?

FEY-"You know it. 15-year old boys are so charming with their oily skin and their unflossed teeth..."

POEHLER-"Their hairless bodies reeking of day-old sweat and Doritos..."

FEY-"Their aggressive, saliva-filled french kisses..."

POEHLER-"Their dirty fingers and their chapped lips..."

FEY-"And of course, their sexy, sexy skid-marked underpants..."

POEHLER-"Irresistable, absolutely irresistable, i get it."

going to texas?

ryan and i have decided to journey west to texas, u.s. of a. there are many things that concern me about being in texas:
1. george w. bush
2. kids who dress like cowboys
3. big cows with horns
4. illegal border crossings
5. singers with names like billy joe shaver, jimmie dale gilmore, and jerry jeff walker

if anyone has any advice about texas-please contribute. we'll be in dallas and austin. maybe even san antonio for a day. we're all ears...

trifecta

well, i'm recovering from the most awful stomach illness i've had in years. ryan deemed it the "trifecta" of all stomach viruses. use your imagination. thank god for MLK holiday. and for all that MLK did for civil rights, of course. nothing of interest has really been happening yet this year. except that stupid brangalina thing. please, who cares if they're beautiful, exotic, rich, famous, caring...mr. pitt still left his wife for another woman. why do we praise that?

with a side of banjo, please

i was sitting around yesterday (after a lovely 3 hour nap) and decided that i needed to get back to the blog thing. so, over the past year i've been listening to some pretty inventive music. especially when it comes to adding a bit of banjo. this music isn't particularly bluegrass, although some might seem a bit americana. some indie. just cool banjo. these are my top three:

1. the be good tanyas...canadian, eh. three ladies. one banjo. some fiddle. beautiful voices.

2. sufjan stevens...this is a new find for me. very exciting! he's from minnesota (or somewhere in the midwest). i just bought "seven swans". the lyrics sound pretty jesusy and the album is pretty low-key, but his other stuff is a little more experimental.

3. iron and wine (sam beam)...he adds some banjo occasionally. very mellow with a bold finish. i just wanted to say "finish" b/c ryan and i recently watched "sideways" with some friends. pretty decent movie if you're a wine dork.

please feel free to add to my banjo band list...this list is for good use of banjo outside the bluegrass genre.

strong's interest inventory

well, i just took a test to determine what may be a good career path. my top three were random that's for sure. 1. radiologic technologist...someone who deals with radiology and x-rays. i can't imagine sitting inside a dark room looking at x-rays all the live long day. 2. farmer/rancher... how opposite is this from #1? 3. speech pathologist...i must have answered alot of "helping people" questions with much interest. this might be a pretty fun gig.

i can't decide. maybe i'll just go to culinary school. do they let you watch food tv alot there? as for now, i'm happy being a nanny. and not having to study.

the fruitcake lady

this is marie rudisill. 93 years old. truman capote's aunt. and an occasional guest on jay leno. she started going on the show teaching celebrities how to make a fruitcake. now she answers questions of random people and they broadcast it on the "tonight show". this woman is a riot! i was first introduced to her through a good friend from mississippi. ms. marie tells it like it is. if you haven't ever seen this and need a good laugh. go to www.nbc.com and search for "fruitcake lady" then click on the first link (it'll be a jay leno, "tonight show" link). there will be a list of the videos you can watch.

the real american idol

this is my oh, so talented brother, thomas. he made it to the final round of the boston american idol tryouts, but the fab three (randy, simon, and that ho, paula) knocked him out. as you can see, my bro is gangsta. for rizzal. he posed like this for this photo and is stuck that way. you know how your parents used to warn you about stuff like that? you should see him now.

shave and a haircut

you know that contest called american idol? well, i thought that one person was supposed to win and get a record deal. so why do runners up like bo bice and clay aiken get to record? bo's genre-southern rock-needs to stay classic rock. yes, i'm from the south and the same state as bo, but my big thing with him is that he needs a haircut. a bit too frizzy for my liking. i guess he fits the "image". and clay aiken, no comment. by the way, where's ruben?

funny ha, ha

interested in hillary clinton for pres. in 2008? check out this website.

www.billforfirstlady.com

bring it

supposedly snow is heading towards lexvegas, the land of the free and home of the brave. i'm not holding my breath. maybe i should go stock up on milk and bread anyways. i could never go a day without either.

respecting the author

'the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe' movie is coming out soon. it looks pretty cool, but out of respect for c.s. lewis i'm going to skip this movie. the books are so wonderful in and of themselves. i was reading around on the bbc website and found a link to this letter:

The Kilns,
Headington Quarry,
Oxford
18 Dec. 1959

Dear Sieveking

(Why do you ‘Dr’ me? Had we not dropped the honorifics?) As things worked out, I wasn’t free to hear a single instalment of our serial [The Magician’s Nephew] except the first. What I did hear, I approved. I shd. be glad for the series to be given abroad. But I am absolutely opposed – adamant isn’t in it! – to a TV version. Anthropomorphic animals, when taken out of narrative into actual visibility, always turn into buffoonery or nightmare. At least, with photography. Cartoons (if only Disney did not combine so much vulgarity with his genius!) wld. be another matter. A human, pantomime, Aslan wld. be to me blasphemy.

All the best,
yours
C. S. Lewis

[Letter to BBC producer Lance Sieveking (1896-1972), who has written at the top: ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ and, after the address, the phone number “62963”.]

from www.nthposition.com

this hybrid car thing

i've been reading about hybrids this morning. just curious. why would they make better cars? better gas mileage. less emissions. they are a bit more in price then similar non-hybrid cars. www.hybridcars.com is an informative website on the subject. that's where i found the reason that i want a hybrid...

"I absolutely love our Prius. In addition to being obviously economical and environmentally friendly, they drive great and are just plain sexy. There’s no reason all Americans shouldn’t be driving hybrid cars."
Will Ferrell

have a nice day everyone

worst hair. worst comeback song. this is bon jovi. he doesn't look like this now because he's like 75 years old with face surgery. his favorite thanksgiving dish is beer.

question of the day

what is long duk dong's favorite thanksgiving dish?

so strange

the gorillaz is a "virtual" band that i saw perform on the mtv european music awards. they were cartoons playing on stage. the bass player donned the whitey tighty, which i always love. cartoons in briefs. besides being extremely odd (which isn't new for brits), they were so entertaining. the music is quite fun. some pop, electronic, hip-hop, reggae, and folk. they have a radio song called "feel good". i just love finding good, new music. this is a winner. www.gorillaz.com

unbelievable

31-30! auburn over UGA. i'll tell you what. after alabama lost to LSU (disappointing), i didn't know if i could watch my tigers lose to ol' georgia. can you believe this? right now there's only one thing to be concerned about. college football. some people talk about the war in iraq, global warming, etc. let's get back to reality, people. the iron bowl happens next saturday. auburn v. alabama. forget fox news and NPR. CBS sports is where it's at. WAR EAGLE!

my husband loves me

this is what ryan said to me today after seeing this picture in the herald-leader. "these girls make your boobs look huge. i love you. you're so unique." the joys of marriage. he always knows how to charm me.

food fast and fast food

i saw a commercial this morning for applebees restaurant. there's something that i don't quite understand about this commercial. they say that they're not fast food but food that is fast. what's the difference? i need some help here.

who should W nominate next?

listen, W thinks that this dude from pennsylvania is right for the job of associate justice of the supreme court of the united states of america. i have another opinion. here are my two choices. first, william nelson, the "red-headed stranger". if anybody has experience with courts and stuff, it's this guy. this is somebody that we want on our side.

second, biscuitasaurus. intimidating. ferocious. hardcore. think about it. since harriet miers dropped out, it should be fair game.