Currents As Of Late July

Sorry it's been awhile...first there was Conan in Boston...then there was my totally epic trip/reunion with some of my most favorite people ever in Las Vegas and LA (miss you bitches!!!). But here it is finally...a blog update of what I'm loving most right now.

Current Listening
Maroon 5 - "Misery"
I have this real love/hate relationship with Maroon 5. I love their faster stuff but hate what they consider to be a ballad. This song is fantastic...but what makes it even better is the video where Adam gets his ass kicked.

Bodyroxx featuring Luciana - "What Planet You On"
This is all Mari's fault for introducing me to a song that is so simply Eurotrash that I cannot stop putting it on repeat.

Stone Temple Pilots - Thank You
Off to see them on the 28th. Starting to get really pumped about it.

Currently Reading
About five different things right now. Nothing really worth writing about.

Currently Watching
Coupling
I really fell in love with Coupling the semester after I got back from London...and finally just bought the 2nd season on DVD. Either I just forgot about some really epic episodes (not likely) or I just really never saw them all...but some of these are new to me...which only makes me love it even more. It really bums me out that the seasons aren't longer.

Inception
Best movie of the summer, hands down. Hell. Best movie of the year, hands down. I've loved Christopher Nolan ever since the first time that I saw Memento in high school. Inception only upped its game. Plus it had Joseph Gordon Levitt in it...and I'm convinced that he's been nothing but pure love since (500) Days of Summer (okay, so he's kind of been pure love ever since 10 Things I Hate About You).

Thank God...

Daniel Craig's been cast as Mikael Blomkvist in David Fincher's adaptation of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

Brad Pitt had reportedly been up for the role and if he would have been cast, I would have totally boycott everything to do with the American adaptation of the book.

So excited to see what Craig does with the part!

Currents as of Late May

Current Listening

Santogold - Self Titled
I've had this album for almost a year now...but I didn't grow super obsessed with it till I listened to it on repeat at work. Love, love, love it.

M.I.A. - "XXXO"
Her new album is great...but "XXXO" is one of the songs that shines the most on it. Catchy as hell.

Currently Reading
Stieg Larsson -- "The Girl Who Played with Fire"
Trying my best to keep this one for the plane ride to Vegas...but it's hard. Love Larsson's novels.

Tess Gerritsen -- "Ice Cold"
The only problem that I had with Gerritsen's new novel was that it was far too short. Her writing is so great and this series is so unlike all the other formulatic murder mysteries out there. Gerritsen really puts a lot of thought into her work and a lot of heart into her characters. I'm a little worried about the TV version they're working on...but if I hate it, I can pretend like it never even existed.

Currently Watching
So You Think You Can Dance (Dance Dance)
For real. It's the summer. And yes...Kayla, the dancer I chose to highlight above isn't on this season...but I'm still really bitter about her not winning Season 5. Look at those friggen lines. Unreal.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
My new old show to watch while passing out at night. Pure pop culture fabulousness.

Hallelujah, Entertainment Weekly!

With "Radar" defunct and even further away from a revival..."Entertainment Weekly" has once again captured my heart fully. As if this week's cover with "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" didn't have me fully in love (SERIOUSLY?! A cover about a book that wasn't "Twilight" or Harry Potter!?! AMEN!)...this quick article in "News and Notes" did. FINALLY...someone snarky and absolutely amusing...

Alas I bring you yet ANOTHER article about current pop stars who need to put some clothes on...I still don't get this leotard thing. If you're not practicing for a dance recital...at least wear a pair of booty shorts. Talk about uncomfortable.

*****

Public Service Announcement
Hey, Pop Stars! Put Away Your Privates, Please!
Lisa Greenblatt

Musicians have been scandalizing the masses since Elvis and his Tilt-a-Whirl pelvis first gyrated onto The Ed Sullivan Show.

But pop-star provocation may have finally reached its fatigue point, thanks to the recent shenanigans of Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, and that tireless mistress of shock and awe, Lady Gaga. First, Aguilera capped off an MTV Movie Awards performance of her oral-sex ode "Woohoo" with a neon heart pulsing over her own woohoo. Then came Gaga's much-anticipated "Alejandro" video -- a seemingly subtext-free slurry of sex and religious imagery that, 21 years after Madonna's "Like a Prayer," didn't have much to say besides "Lookit! If there are machine guns hot-glued to my bra, it must be art!" Finally, Perry's Wonka-esque "California Gurls" video found the singer -- incidentally, the daughter of two pastors -- shooting twin plumes of white stuff from her sequined showgirl bustier. When Rihanna subsequently wore what looked like Spanx and a pair of suspended coffee-filter cones on stage at a festival in Spain, it actually felt...quaint.

Do we need to have an ob-gyn level of intimacy with these girls' ladybits to continue buying their music? Outsize sexuality is of course a pop star's prerogative, but it also tends to both obscure and cheapen their genuine talents: Aguilera possesses one of the best voices in the business, and Perry and Gaga consistently write their own hits. Sure, the're just responding to the public's seemingly unslakable third for fresh stimulation: To not play the vixen game is, more often than not, to be cut from the A-team. It would be nice, though, if for once they didn't feel compelled to streak the field.

*****

I couldn't have said it any better. Amen, Lisa Greenblatt. Amen.

My Wardrobe's Latest Addition

I've got a few social engagements coming up...weddings, parties, etc...and I came across this awesome dress in Avon. You can totally wear it 8 different ways...and I'm so excited to wear it.

I am, however, not excited about how to figure out HOW to wear it...but that's what I'll have good friends getting ready with me for!

I Will Possess Your Heart...

Stole this from Mari Mari...

Three names I go by:

• Julie
• J
• Grace (After a not so graceful tumble on my ass at work last year)
  

Three jobs I have had:

• Playground Supervisor
  
• Cashier
  
• Artist
  

Three places I have lived:

• London
• Pittsburgh
• Warren
  

Three favorite drinks:

• Mountain Dew White Out
  
• Diet Coke from Wendy's -- Best Syrup/Soda Ratio Ever
  
• A really well mixed Long Island Iced Tea
  

Three TV shows I watch:

• Dexter
• Glee
  
• It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
  

Three places I have been:

• Boston
• London
• Barcelona

Three places I would like to visit:

• Greece
• Scotland
• Amsterdam

Three people who text me regularly:

• Honkus
• Mari
• Kelli
  

Three favorite old TV shows:

• Blossom
  
• Golden Girls
  
• Salute Your Shorts
  

Three favorite dishes:

• Thai Chicken Fried Rice
  
• Three Cheese Grilled Cheese from Kim's Cafe
  
• Ice Cream
  

Three makeup/beauty products I cannot live without:

• A really bitchin' nail polish
  
• For real...a really awesome nail polish.
  

But not the horrid color on my toes right now. For real. Look: Three things I'm looking forward to:

• Stone Temple Pilots in August
  
• VEGAS!!!!!
  
• LA

Currents as of...Well Awhile (April-May)

Current Listening

Christina Aguilera -- "Bionic"
Freaking genius. Seriously. All comparisons aside, Aguilera's album is fresh and exciting. I've heard the comparisons and I don't see Gaga here. Aguilera's spun off in a new direction and kudos to her for it. It's dirty and it's going to probably spark some controversy...but dammit, it's fun.
Best Tracks: "Woohoo" and "Bionic" though "I Hate Boys" is pretty fab too.
Lee DeWyze -- "So I'm Told," "Slumberland," and His Idol Covers
I really wish everyone would get on board for this guy. He won Idol...and it WAS NOT only because 13 year old girls voted for him. Don't get me wrong, the guy's pretty...but his talent only makes him that much more attractive.

I could go on and on about how I didn't really care who won Idol. I'll support both Crystal and Lee because they're just such individual, brilliant artists...but the game with Idol is to vote for who you like the best. Lee got the votes...Crystal didn't. And it's not just because he's attractive. Crystal obviously supports and respects Lee...why can't everyone else just follow her lead? I'm not saying you have to LOVE the guy...but you can't deny his talent...especially after hearing his two pre-Idol albums.

Hall and Oates...and...
The Bird and the Bee -- "Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall & John Oates"
I don't know what it is about Hall and Oates...but I'm loving their music. I'm especially loving The Bird and the Bee's take on it.

Currently Reading
Stieg Larson -- "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
I'd been avoiding reading Larson's series of novels because there was so much hype behind them...and we all know how much I love hype and just chase after it to get my pop culture fix...

But I faced a really great sale at Borders yesterday and decided to take a chance.

And holy shit, has it been worth it. It was a little rough to get into...but so far, really good and I'm happy that I chose to read it.

Ann Rule -- "The Stranger Beside Me"
I've gotten really into true crime novels. I don't know if there's some dormant part of me that wants to be a detective or what...but I've gotten hooked on reading about crime and the people who solve them.

I just finished Rule's book on Bundy...which was really well written...but the fact that she KNEW Bundy personally seemed to make it even more hard hiting. Fantastic.

Stephen King -- "Just After Sunset"
By default, I love Stephen King's earliest works the best. I don't feel he's ever started to chase a formula...but King in his early days was at his best. "Carrie" and "The Shining" are by far two of his best works...Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying all his older works suck..."The Green Mile" is absolutely fantastic...and even "Under the Dome" was pretty good...

But even with the aforementioned novels, I still think that King is at his best through the short story medium. In, out, done. And this collection is just as fabulous as his previous works.

Currently Watching
Glee
For real. This can't surprise you.

The Big Bang Theory
We all know that I love "How I Met Your Mother" but this past year, Big Bang surpassed it. I don't know if HIMYM just hit a creative slump (I'll still watch it) or if Big Bang just blew it out of the water in comedy and heart. I love this show. There's really nothing else like it on TV.