Say what you will...

About Dave Cullen's "Columbine." Call it "conjecture" or a "work of fiction." But what Cullen has done in 200 pages (I haven't finished yet) is give the events of what happened at Columbine a more realistic feel. To those of us growing up in a CNN infused media where reporters often spin more lies in the first twenty minutes of breaking news, it's refreshing to hear a journalist admit they screwed up...And it's daring that he's taken ten years to sit down and try to piece together WHY the event happened. It's daring, it's surprising, and it's ballsy.

It's also a very worthy followup to Lehane's "Shutter Island."

After this, I'm going to read "Never Let Me Go" again. They're turning it into a movie starring Keira Knightly and Carey Mulligan (seriously loving her style right now)...and I need to brush up on its awesomeness before its release.

Tonight the doors of McNamara/Troy close for good...

Ryan Murphy's first hit series "Nip/Tuck" ends tonight and the feeling I'm left with is completely bittersweet. On one hand, the show has kept me glued (except for that crap fourth season and the fact that I've fallen asleep for half of this season) for the past four years...I can remember getting hooked sophomore year of college. And it being downhill ever since.

Nip/Tuck was fearless television with an incredible ensemble cast.

Let's stop and remember a few of my favorite moments from this gross-over the top-awesome television series.

• Kimber being in the very first episode of the series...and the producers loving her so much, they keep her around for the rest of the series, her storylines getting more and more ridiculous every week. That's staying power.
• Matt giving himself a circumcision in the first season. Still makes me want to kind of vomit. Could you imagine finding your kid like that?
• The Carver in Season 3. Season 2-3 were the best of the series. This storyline tied all the grossness together and made it a lot less jump-the-shark.
• Two words: Julian. McMahon. Pure. Hotness. Naked. A lot.
• The absolutely batshit surgery storylines that gross you out entirely...to those that are real bummers...to those which are thought provoking. See last week's episode with the Holocaust victim and the Nazi tattoo artist.
• The sense of family. No matter what happened, they always wound up together...which is why I think tonight's show will end with one more famous family table dinner moment.

So while I feel bummed that yet another wonderful television series is ending, I'm happy at the same time. They could have kept on and made the show tank out till they cancelled it, but they haven't. They've tied up story lines in fabulous ways.

So thank you for all the memories. As vomit inducing and shocking as some of them were, it was definately worth the crazy ride.

Pure-freaking-Genius

This past week I read "Shutter Island" by Dennis Lehane. As someone who reads -- avidly -- I hadn't read anything super original in awhile. Then this novel fell into my hands. What was meant to last me a week reading (at least) was finished in 2 days. Amazing, amazing book with a brilliant ending.

I cannot wait to see what Martin Scorcese's awesome mind does with it.

Huh.

So I was just attempting to sleep on that couch and listening to my iPod...I gave up and finally downloaded Lady Gaga's "The Fame Monster" because Honkus got me hooked on "Teeth" and while I was nearly asleep, I thought, 'Huh. This sounds familiar. The more and more that I listen to it, it reminds me of something.'

And then it finally, FINALLY clicked.

Roisin Murphy.

Be forewarned -- this is not a long rant on Roisin vs. Gaga...there is a point. And after some explanation...I'll get there.

Now to most of you, Roisin Murphy's name won't mean anything. But to some (AKA me)...lover of Europop and avid watcher of "So You Think You Can Dance," it means quite a bit. You see, Roisin Murphy is an Irish electropop singer...and Wade Robson (Best. Choreographer. Ever.) seems to just love her...as shown by the number of dances he's choreographed to her music on "So You Think You Can Dance." ((Best Roisin/Wade dance mashup ever: "Ramalama Bang Bang"))

In fact, it was "Ramalama Bang Bang" that I was thinking of so intently while listening to "Teeth."

So I got online and decided, "I'm going to type both of their names into Google and see what I come up with."

And lo and behold...I'm not the first person to seek out this comparison.

Especially once you look at Murphy's style...a style she was rocking before Lady Gaga ever did.

So then I hit paydirt. Apparently Murphy thought the same thing...and commented on it. But then retracted said harsh statement stating she does love Gaga.

But seriously. It's uncanny once you start watching Roisin's videos, listening to both Gaga and Roisin's music and comparing their styles. Then remember that Roisin's been doing this stuff since 2004.

Case in point:
But my point is not about Lady Gaga's style, as I stated above. My point is this...

There is no "true originality" in music anymore. What Gaga borrows from Roisin, Roisin has somehow borrowed from someone else down the line (um...Madonna's ballsiness, anyone?? SHE was probably the only "original" female pop star. Everyone's been copying her ever since by pushing the boundaries the way that she did).

One thing that does bother me is that what crosses the pond commercially here and succeeds isn't necessarily the best that Europe has got to offer. For all the Roisin's, Little Boots, and Florence and the Machine's that Europe can hold close to them and keep locked up like tightly like the hidden family gems that they are, others come along and inevitably mold some similar vision of them into our own popular culture in the United States (without the American public ever even realizing it). And I'm not saying that we're only evolving from Europe and that America is a bunch of copycats. They've evolved thanks to us as well. It's a give and take sharing process.

It's evolution. And it can be very, very exciting for a music fan. After all, without Madonna, there never would have been a Britney. Without Britney...there wouldn't be the female pop star revolution that still continues today. These icons just shape the land for things to come...inspire others with their style and keep the evolution rolling.

So I will continue listening to "Teeth." And I will continue loving "Ramalama Bang Bang." But I will sleep better at night after finally connecting all these dots. Especially since I can't wait to see where pop music is headed next.

Mari did this, so now I have to too.

Apparently there's some huge UrbanDictionary.com name shite going around on Facebook. But since I hate posting things like that as my status...I'm doing it here...just like Mari did. :) Of course, having one of the most common names means that I have pretty much a dozen of these to choose from. Here are the best ones.

1.	Julie
	Sweet and downy haired girl, changable, and often misunderstood and complex. A fearful creature as well as highly loyal. She will rule your affection and once you have hers it will be forever. You will love Julie forever.

3.	Julie
	1. A popular French name meaning youthful, soft-haired and vivacious. 2. A woman who is hated by woman due to her care free ways and ability to have men swoon at her very sight. Julie. You know which!!!

7.	Julie
	Julie is the name only given to those who deserve and respect it. There is no such thing as simply "A Julie," as anyone with the name of Julie deserves special recognition, because, obviously, it is the best name in the world. Anyone named Julie should be addressed as "The Julie" because no Julie is ordinary and each and every Julie is worthy of such a title; their name is Julie.

How completely badass is this My Little Pony??

Went to Williamsport this weekend to see my BFFF Honkus. We did the Christmas swap...and she bought me the most absolutely badass My Little Pony.

Apparently, the folks at Hasbro released this totally genius artistic line of My Little Pony in 2008 and Honkus bought me one. I freaking love it. Definitely one of the most awesome gifts ever.

My New Year's Resolution...A Month Late

It took me a total of 20something days to figure out what it is that I want to resolve this year...and the answer was so obvious that I don't know how I didn't think of it soon before.

My resolution for 2010 is to quit wasting so much of my time on stupid technology (AKA texting) and bettering my real life person-to-person communication skills.

For real, think about it.

It seems that more and more lately, technology has made personal relationships way, way too easy. IMs. Facebook. Twitter. Texting. Ten years ago, if you wanted to make plans with people, you had to pick up your actual home phone and call someone.

Now, we can be contacted literally anywhere, anytime. Driving down the road? Check. Going to the bathroom? Check. Cutting down a tree in a forest somewhere? Check.

But while anyone can now call you anywhere...there's also texting.

Which eliminates the truly personal aspect of the phone...and makes things so much more difficult. Text. Text. Text. About everything. Lunch. Someone by you on the bus. If you're mad at someone.

Cell phone technology has broken down these forms of communication so much.

And lately, I've realized that I really, really miss them.

So while I don't plan on giving up my cell phone, I do plan on cutting back on the texting. Small texts here and there about random thoughts, fine. Huge text messages about something that happened the night before or to tell someone you're mad at them? No more.

From now on, I'm not playing the get half the story in 160 characters or less game. And if making plans continues to be such a huge mess via text, I may start only accepting invites via actual phone calls.

I am just so sick of the communication break down. How have we come this far? Why the hell do I see 8 year olds with cell phones? What's wrong with having an old fashioned land line conversation...or hell, a real conversation in person with someone.

And don't get me started on texting and driving (or holding your phone and driving). Thank God, I have Sync in my car.

So this 2010...I'm reverting to the way the dinosaurs did it...the way that's dying. Because maybe if a few more of us quit tapping out our messages and talking to someone, maybe, just maybe, the world would be more well informed, a little more understanding and a hell of a lot less confused.