we just won't be defeated

captain clarence oveur

Joey, have you ever...

 
R.I.P. Peter Graves
 

zooey and a hula hoop, ftw

Jeez, that last post was a real downer, huh?  Heartbreak.  Suicide.  Indecisive music purchases.  I don't know about you, but I'm ready to push it on down the page.  And fortunately, Zooey Deschanel is here to help.  The first official video from the second record by She & Him - creatively titled Volume 2 - was released today.  All you haters who thought Zooey couldn't be even more adorable have got another think coming.

She & Him - In The Sun

it's a wonderful life

I once thought I might have found the girl I wanted to marry.  She had other ideas.  She was interested in seeing other people.  More to the point, she was actually only interested in seeing one other person.  And she started seeing that person while she and I were still together.  I'll be honest, that kind of hurt a little.

I don't really know why - in the wake of that break-up - I picked up a copy of Sparklehorse's It's a Wonderful Life.  I'd heard their previous album - Good Morning Spider - a few times previously and had a lukewarm impression.  I'm guessing there was nothing else to buy; my suspicion is that I had decided that day that I needed new music, and that I spent forty minutes or so aimlessly wandering around the record store looking for something that I didn't actively not want.  At any rate, I'm glad - however it happened - that It's a Wonderful Life found its way into my collection.  Its beautiful melancholy was my soundtrack for the next couple of months.

Mark Linkous - the auteur behind Sparklehorse - committed suicide on Saturday.  I wish I could thank him for his amazing record that guided me through one of the most difficult periods of my life.  But I wish even more that he had found something equally beautiful to remind him that just being alive is not always going to be as hard as it may seem.

and the oscar goes to....

Tonight are the Academy Awards.  I won't watch, because I can't stare at the television for seven hours straight.  And also because the Academy never gets anything right.  Last year's awards were a joke (the big winner was literally unwatchable) and ranked among the worst in a long history of transgressions.  I expect everything about tonight's ceremony to be wrong, with the exception of the Best Supporting Actor award - for which Christoph Waltz is a lock.  I've seen five six of the Best Picture nominees (A Serious Man, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Up, Up in the Air, and Avatard) and none of them was as good as the actual best picture of 2009, which got zero Oscar nominations.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

spruce goose

About a week ago, Bicycling magazine's annual pornography issue (also known as the "Buyer's Guide") showed up on my doorstep.  I don't need a new bike.  It's only been a year since I bought a carbon-fiber bicycle to replace my trusty aluminum number.  But still, when I was leafing through the magazine this morning one bike caught my eye.

wood fiber

That, my friends, is a wood bicycle.  It may be the most beautiful machine I've ever seen.  I don't want a new bike.  I don't want a new bike.  I don't want a new bike.  I don't want....

the ultimate ba-ba song

Last night I was flipping through the channels and Turner Classic Movies was showing Cool Hand Luke.  Paul Newman is - was - pretty much the best, so I got sucked in for a while until I realized that Duke might beat Maryland in basketball.  I'm opposed on principle to all sports fans in the DC area being happy, so I obviously switched over to the game.  Maryland ended up winning - which disappointed me - but yesterday's experience inspired me to re-watch my favorite movie ever this evening.  I've always loved Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid despite the disjointed musical interludes, but recently I'm learning to love even those too.

Ba-Ba-Butch & Sundance

letter of appreciation

It has come to my attention in an entirely coincidental way that this is "National Write a Letter of Appreciation Week."  I appreciate lots of things, and I probably don't express that enough.  I'm not nearly as cynical as I pretend to be; I'm kind of a big softie, actually.  That's why I wanted to take a moment to recognize one of my favorite Voxers.  Jodi is the first person I've ever "met" online, and we go way back to when Vox was still beta testing.  There was some initial mutual admiration that I think we both would like to pretend never happened, but we soon settled into a comfortable groove of bickering.  Eventually, I grew tired of winning every debate, so I orchestrated a challenge that she can finally win - and against my nemesis Dabysan, no less.  This year is going to be really sweet for me, and I owe it some to Jodi.  That's deserving not just of a letter, but of a poem.

Posting without fail in the Comment War,
I can barely wait to see what Jodi has in store.
Every single word is like music to my ears -
Replacements, you know, I still love them after all the years.
Until she leaves us I will keep on reading;
Let's just hope she hears my constant pleading.
E'er she goes away, I don't know what I'd do without her -
Stop, I have to tell myself, don't be such a doubter.

Jodi's every story brightens up my day,
One click on her blog makes my troubles go away.
Did you see the post about how she's one of the nerds?
I can only dream that I have her way with words.
Divulging such information would make me so ashamed,
Regardless of the fact that I can hardly be blamed.
O but Jodi, she has no inhibition;
Once upon a time, she provided ammunition.
Let's all take a moment, for all that Jodi's done -
She's the Voxiest of all!  She has Comment War won!

down on the farm

My sisters are fighting.  I'm not sure how it started (or if that even matters), but I definitely have mixed emotions about this particular argument.  On one hand, Sister #1 is being willfully stubborn and contrary against all logic, which I respect even though she is dead wrong.  On the other hand, Sister #2 can be.... well, she doesn't have the palate of a six-year-old exactly, but sometimes it seems that if it doesn't give you cavities she's not interested.  Fortunately they have an older brother who is more than happy to sort these things out for the both of them.  And so, here are the five least delicious and the five most delicious vegetables.

The Worst

5/ Potatoes (baked):  Baked potatoes are a dry and starchy mess.  On their own, that is.  But they're never served that way.  Instead they come in two varieties.  One is slathered with sour cream and chives, and sour cream is vile.  The other is drenched in melted cheese and bacon bits.  Let's not pretend anybody is eating those for the potato.

4/ Brussel Sprouts:  Hey, you want the gigantic feeling of sticking an entire head of lettuce into your mouth at once?  Then brussel sprouts are for you.  Unfortunately, making you feel big is all they have going for them.  They sure don't taste like anything you'd want to put in your mouth.

3/ Eggplant:  I'll concede that it's possible I have never had properly prepared eggplant.  But then, it's not like I haven't given it a fair shake.  It's not my fault nobody seems to be able to do it right.  Eggplant has all the charmless texture of mushrooms and none of the flavor.  It doesn't help its case that this one is never, ever, served on it's own.

2/ Lima Beans:  Green, vaguely kidney-shaped sacs of dirt are foul.  End of story.

1/ Beets:  Beets are so gross that even the fact that they can be refined into sugar can't help them.  This disgusting vegetable really has it all.  Or - if you prefer - has nothing.  Its mouthfeel is at once both slippery like eggplant and mealy like lima beans.  And they're not content to be merely bland like a plain baked potato.  No, they're aggressively distasteful.  Beets dare you to eat them, and they don't lose.

The Best

5/ Potatoes (any way other than baked):  What a difference preparation makes.  Slicing that dense, starchy mass into more manageable bits is the greatest thing that ever happened to the lowly potato.  Sure, potatoes that are deep fried, au gratin, or whipped with butter and garlic might not be any better for you than the cheese and bacon monstrosity listed above, but they taste a hell of a lot better.

4/ Spinach:  I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam.  Yum.

3/ Corn:  This isn't a list of most nutritious vegetables, but corn still gets knocked a point for being probably the least healthy on this list.  Disgusting-ass beets, included.  [And also, I guess, for not really being a vegetable. -Ed.]  There's no question that every single one of us has way too much corn in our diet.  But that doesn't make fresh corn - or better yet - corn-on-the-cob any less tasty.

2/ Broccoli:  There aren't many vegetables that hold their own equally well both raw and cooked.  Broccoli is the king of that short list.  In fact, it's the only one that - on it's own - is equally delicious cooked as it is raw.  And vice versa.

1/ Asparagus:  Okay, I'll admit I've never tried asparagus raw, but who would want to?  Roasted (or grilled!) asparagus is the alpha and the omega of the vegetable experience.  Bold flavor.  Appealing mouthfeel.  Few - if any - supporting ingredients are required to make it palatable.  Asparagus has it all.  Plus it makes your pee smell funny.