Monday, July 30, 2007  |  

- saturday night's alright -

10 favorite moments from Saturday's Rufus show:

1. The giant American flag backdrop which is supposed to be a metaphor (or a "metaflag" as Rufus called it) for all that's good and bad in America.
   
   
2. Rufus abruptly stopping Tulsa about 15 seconds into it, saying "I can't play in this Alexander McQueen jacket!" Oh, those of you who still question Brandon Flowers' sexuality: if Rufus failed to seduce him by writing a song about him, he's obviously straight.
   
   
3. The Art Teacher.
   
   
4. A quick preview of the upcoming Judy Garland show: A Day Foggy (In London Town) and If Love Were All.
   
   
5. The lederhosen he wore for the 2nd act. Incidentally, this was the first concert I have ever attended that had a scheduled intermission during the main act.
   
   
6. An Irish folk song called Macushlah, which he performed sans microphone. Incredible!
   
   
7. 14th Street (which ended the regular set).
   
   
8. Complainte de la Butte (which wasn't on my wishlist but should have been).
   
   
9. Surprise costume change! Followed by a rendition of Get Happy in drag! Rufus has very nice legs.
   
   
10. The Gay Messiah (which ended the encore).

Friday, July 27, 2007  |  

- world's greatest entertainer -

Rufus tomorrow! This is my first full Rufus show (he opened for Tori Amos in 2001 and co-headlined with Ben Folds in 2005). I'm obviously excited although 1) I'm still not too crazy about his new album so far, and 2) tomorrow will undoubtedly feature the new material heavily.

Top 10 (older) songs I hope he plays tomorrow (in no particular order):

1. Poses
2. The Art Teacher
3. The Maker Makes (from Brokeback Mountain)
4. One Man Guy
5. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (from The History Boys)
6. Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk
7. The Origin of Love (from Wig in a Box)
8. Foolish Love
9. Gay Messiah
10. 14th Street

Thursday, July 26, 2007  |  

- our perfect summer -

My yoga instructor, well, one of my yoga instructors says I'm "naturally a little round." Ouch.

Current music: Rufus Wainwright - Want One

Tuesday, July 24, 2007  |  

- defective yeti -

If you don't find this funny, we definitely can't be friends.

Current music: Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars

Friday, July 20, 2007  |  

- xkcd -

If you don't find this funny, we probably can't be friends.

Current music: Feist - Open Season

Tuesday, July 17, 2007  |  

- the gay messiah -

I got the name of the super secret ice cream place from Dave White where he had the now-infamous bacon ice cream. I can't tell you what/where it is because I promised him I wouldn't share it with anyone (Matt is an exception since he will have to drive me there). You can email Mrs. White yourself if you want to find out, though it's not all that difficult if you have even semi-decent googling skills.

Also on my to-eat-in-LA list so far: Irv's, Roscoe's and Red Mango.

Oh, and in case you didn't know, we're going to LA in September to see Rufus Wainwright at the Hollywood Bowl. Not just any Rufus show, mind you, but a Rufus show in which he'll be recreating Judy Garland's famed 1961 Carnegie Hall concert. I think Mary said it best when she quipped "that's gayer than gay sex."

Current music: Judy Garland - Judy At Carnegie Hall

Monday, July 16, 2007  |  

- weekend update -

What I did this weekend, while my fellow Vancouverites were busy getting drenched in Stanley Park:

1. Woke up Friday morning at 4am for some reason, and decided that it was the perfect time to perform a minor surgery on my face. See, I had this one strand of hair smack in the middle of my left cheek that had been growing sideways just underneath the skin without actually breaking through the surface. Not sure if that qualifies as "ingrown hair" but it had been bothering me a lot, so armed with only a sewing needle and a lighter, I successfully removed it. Yeah, it's totally gross and waaay TMI, but like an ex-coworker of mine once said, "If you don't want to see the contents of my colon, don't read my journal!"
   
   
2. Watched The Color Purple for the first time and loved it.
   
   
3. Also watched Paris, Je T'aime and except for the segments by Alexander Payne and Christopher Doyle, didn't really care for it. I so want the backpack that mime's son was wearing in "Tour Eiffel" though.
   
   
4. Went to the Mercer Island Independence Parade. Independence from whom/what, I don't know, but it's always entertaining to watch little kids go apeshit over free candy (for about 5 minutes, anyways). I'm still a bit upset that I didn't get any pink balloons.
   
   
5. Saw Dave Reichert at the parade and was really freaked out by how plastic he looked -- perfectly spray-tanned face, not a single strand of hair out of place and jeans that were little too snug. He's got impressive guns for an old dude, however.
   
   
6. Went to the Mariners game where Sean Casey's butt was in my direct line of sight for about 3 hours. I love Sean Casey's swing -- his lower body stays still while his upper body rotates before eventually catching up, like a full half-second later. It's quite fascinating to watch.
   
   
7. Went to Kwik-E-Mart and bought some Buzz Cola. KrustyO's and pink donuts were sold out.
   
   
8. Celebrated the National Ice Cream Day by gorging on entirely too much chocolate ice cream and lemon sorbet.
   
   
9. Caught up on a week's worth of PTI podcasts on the way back to Canadia.
   
   

Thursday, July 12, 2007  |  

- disappear into the ocean, now! -

Hater Thursday:

1. People who don't get the "delayed-walk" signal: Just because the traffic light has turned green, it doesn't mean that you can start to cross. Wait for the "Walk" signal, jackass. If that's too complicated for you to comprehend, please haul your bridge-and-tunnel ass back to Surrey and stay outta my hood.
   
   
2. People with ugly toes/toenails who insist on wearing sandals: Seriously, open-toe shoes are a privilege, not a right. Cover up those nasty-ass toes already, shit.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007  |  

- (you may) start spreadin' the news (now) -

To quote James Murphy again: "New York's the greatest if you get someone to pay the rent." Who's coming with me?

Current music: Kelis - Trilogy

Wednesday, July 11, 2007  |  

- 1-800-got-laid-off? -

3 things I realized last night:

1. Quitting my last job 7 months ago was one of the smartest things I've done in a long while. Best place to work in BC, my ass.
   
   
2. Office gossip is fun!
   
   
3. My gaydar is beyond repair.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007  |  

- new york, i love you but you're brining me down -

Still no director's approval re: the NYC trip. Ugh. Please stop asking -- I'll let y'all know when it's finalized.

Current music: Thom Yorke - The Bridge School Benefit

Sunday, July 8, 2007  |  

- public service announcement -

Since it looks like ESPN.com has no intention of removing the super-annoying, auto-playing video from their gateway page, I came up with a way to deal with it.

Just slide the volume bar of the video widget all the way to the left, effectively muting it. ESPN remembers your volume setting, so the volume will still be off the next time you visit the page. Yes, the video will still play, but it's infinitely less disruptive, and you'll never have it unexpectedly blare out of your computer at the most inopportune time (during a boring meeting when you decide to quickly check the latest NCAA results, for instance). Admit it, I know you've done it.

You're welcome.

Current music: Rufus Wainwright - Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Friday, July 6, 2007  |  

- king of awesome -

1. Out of the Woods: Tracey Thorn (of Everything But The Girl)'s brilliant solo effort (her first in 20+ years) is giving me a much-needed break from Amy Winehouse.
   
   
2. Also in heavy rotation as of late: Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem.
   
   
3. 7-Eleven as Kwik-E-Marts = Best. Marketing. Campaign. Ever. There is one in Coquitlam of all places, but that's a good 45-min drive from Yaletown (or an 1.5-hr Skytrain/bus ride, for those of us poor, disenfranchised, car-less folks). I think I'll wait and check out the one in Seattle next weekend. Hopefully the lines won't be as crazy by then.
   
   
4. In case you didn't know, iTunes offers free downloads of some songs and TV shows every Tuesday. It's mostly crap (like that new Paula Abdul reality show), but sometimes you find real gems. And Ice Road Truckers (well, the first episode, anyways) is fucking awesome. I'm too cheap to buy the other episodes at $1.99 a pop, so it looks like I'll be battling TFAG for the TV room once again. Or wait until it comes out on DVD in November. It airs Sundays at 10pm.