Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Discovery of the Day: Colbert Hates Canton



I love this clip for two reasons. 1) It's Stephen Colbert being Stephen Colbert. Say no more. 2) I work in Canton and find it hysterical that we be found either good or bad. Being as it is a crappy cold snowy day and it isn't even November yet, I think I'd sign up to move down to Canton, Texas and deal with the monkeys! As an added bonus, I find it slightly amusing that Canton, Ohio will now be associated with Hitlers Ass Crack for a huge segment of the population. Thanks Colbert!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Discovery of the Day: Fringe


My boss has been telling me for weeks now that I should check out the new FOX show "Fringe" based on two important viewing criteria: 1) It's a cool modern "X-File" sci-fi show and 2) It stars Joshua Jackson who was oh-so-lovable on "Dawson's Creek". I put it off amid a flurry of bad reality tv (Do I really want to watch "The Real Housewives of Atlanta"?). Tonight I downloaded it off the net, Fringe on Fox , and watched the pilot as I half heartedly walked on my treadmill. I have to say, I give it a thumbs up. Though it has it's cheesey, "it could only happen on tv moments", it has some great points. Interesting paranormal plotlines, lots of government intrigue, sexy FBI agents, and crazy half mad scientists. (I'm crossing my fingers the Cigarette Man makes a surprise appearance in Season 2.)

On a related note, I also watched "The Eleventh Hour" last week starring the hotness that is Rufus Sewell. I wanted to like it but I just felt "meh" about it. I kept thinking that David Caruso could have stepped into the lead characters shoes and been just as effective. Which isn't necessarily a great thing. Maybe I should give it another try. Thoughts?

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Discovery of the Day: My Unoffical Political Poll

Northeast Ohio, in my opinion, is geographically a weird place to live. Go to any "nice" neighborhood in the area and you are only a few blocks away from locking your doors and running red lights for fear of being mugged. Go to any "urban" area and you are only a few miles away from suburbia. Drive a few miles away from either of those and you are liable to run into a cornfield or a rundown papermill. You just never know who your neighbors are!

The drive from my parents middle-class neighborhood to my apartment building (once dubbed in a local newspaper as a "starter" complex for people not ready to be grown-ups...whatever!) runs through an area of very posh mini-mansions. As I was driving the stretch today I noticed that the political signs were out in full force. Local political ads were the most prevalent - some being the size of large billboards on the highway. But there were quite a fewe presidential signs as well. Normally you would expect to find this area exclusively Republican. As I drove down I saw the first batch of McCain/Palin signs. No surprise. But as I continued to drive I noticed something interesting. For every McCain sign there was an Obama sign. In fact it looked like two neighbors were duking it out as both of them had several presidential signs on display - one an Obama supporter, one a McCain supporter. Could Obama be making headway with the Republican base here in Ohio?

I honestly think it is going to come down to the wire here in Ohio as it always does. Nonetheless, this election may push people to vote across previous political alliances. What that means for the outcome we shall see soon enough. Hold on tight!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Discovery of the Day: I Still Love Palin

There is one thing that I love about the attention being paid to Sarah Palin these days. No, it isn't her amazing views on politics and science (ahem...we'll skip that). It is the attention it has brought to another Palin...Michel Palin. I have seen more than a few "Michael Palin for President" parodies on the geekier side of the internet.

I have a confession. Michael Palin was one of my very first celebrity crushes. My brother was an enormous Monty Python fan and forced me to watch countless episodes of the show before I could even begin to appreciate English humor. Somewhere between watching "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "The Life of Brian" I began developing a giggly preteen girl crush on Michael Palin. There was something very cute, funny, and cuddly about him and I decided that he should be my boyfriend. Several years later, my crush was firmly cemented when Michael began the first of his travel documetaries with Around the World in 80 Days. As he circles the globe front to back and Pole to Pole, Palin has a childish curiousity, a great intelligence, and (dog gone it) he just seems so NICE. Many years have passed but Michael Palin still remains high on my scale of crushworthy-ness. Sarah Palin may be popular for now but there is only room for one Palin in my heart!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Discovery of the Day: Fareed Zakaria Rocks the World










OK...so he doesn't exactly rock the world. But he does one hell of a good job at explaining the state of the world today. I just finished reading Fareed Zakaria's book "The Post-American World" and I am very glad I did. Zakaria does a great job of explaining the problems that the US faces right now using a long world lens. We have to understand that the world is changing and as it does the power shifts. Zakaria calls it "the rise of the rest". This means countries are now dominating in technological and economic fields that the US once had an iron fist over.

The reason I enjoyed this book is because Zakaria makes sure to point out this "rise of the rest" does not signify the end of the US. Instead, it merely points to a shift. In fact, the US can benefit from the advances of other countries and can still remain a major power player. It is a difficult issue to grasp but one that we all must acknowledge and try to understand.

I've embedded a video of a discussion that Zakaria gave at the Los Angles Public Library that is definitely worth watching. Not to mention it is moderated by Reza Aslan who I have a big geek girl crush on. Sigh. This is good stuff. Please dig in.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Discovery of the Day: Reese's Double Stuffed Peanut Butter Pumpkins


Let me repeat that. REESE'S DOUBLE STUFFED PEANUT BUTTER PUMPKINS!!!

God must have seen that I have been freaking out too much about the economy this week and has bestowed a delicious reward on me in the form of peanut butter and chocolate. On my lunch break today I was wandering the aisles of Walgreens stocking up on tissues for all my snotty nosed students (and one snotty nosed librarian...guilty!) when what do my eyes fall upon. Past the plastic halloween costumes. Past the economy size bags of tootsie rolls. Past the smoke machines and cheesy strobe lights. Could it be? REESE'S DOUBLE STUFFED PEANUT BUTTER PUMPKINS!

Reese's cups and I have a special connection. It is the only thing I ask for on Easter and Halloween. And I think I may be the only woman alive whose blind date showed up with a homemade Reese's cup in his hand in lieu of flowers (okay..that was a little weird. But the thought was nice.) I managed to stifle my eeks of joy as I grabbed one in my hands and hotfooted it to the register. At least I waited until I was parked back at school to open the sweet goodness. And then I think I blacked out because it somehow disappeared in the space of 5 seconds. I'm a bad girl. My treadmill tells me I have a price to pay. But some things are just worth being bad for. And Reese's are high on the list.

Long live Reese's Cups. It is a good day!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Discovery of the Day: I Have Issues With or Without Possible Solutions

At least thats the way I feel after watching the Vice Presidential debate. Apparently there are lots of issues. Apparently we are living in the best country in the world filled with dynamic fabulous people with lots of potential. But, oh yeah, we are on the brink of collapse because of greedy oil countries who we may or may not be helping out. But don't worry. Cuz people in the know understand the issues and will address them right away. Because God wants it that way. No need to talk in detail about the issues because that would be silly since we all know that issues are important and are being given the attention they deserve.

So instead of listening to the pundits on tv, I decided to listen to Brett and Jemaine talk about issues. Biden and Palin could take some lessons from their insight. I think they deserve the smiley face. :-)