Foxfield Photo Diary

Ok, so there are no excuses for my poor blogging etiquette, but I hope you'll forgive me with this update from last weekend's wonderful trip to C'ville.

Below are a series of photos to illustrate what was a perfect day at the races.

Rounding up the crew in the parking lot of the Hampton Inn, one of Charlottesville's finest hotels off Route 29...

In case you forgot to bring your own hat...

Funny joke? Or starting to feel the mimosas?

The gals of 354 on the back of the pick-up.

Will and Ingrid in their Foxfield best (Check out those orange sherbet pants!!)

Pouy and fried chicken = happy camper.

I actually caught a couple horse races this year, and guess what? They're pretty exciting to watch!

It's all fun and games until someone has to clean up the mess...

I'm actually mid-air in celebration over finding some porta-potties with no line (nice camera work, Lo!)

And this one's just to illustrate what a freakin' amazing blue sky day it was. (And of course, to show Alli nuzzling Lo)

Sunday was another gorgeous day to end the month of April, and we strolled the grounds and enjoyed a delicious bagel brunch. Where, you ask? Why, at Bodo's... on the corner!!

Gorgeous tulips we observed in one of the gardens as part of our botany field trip.

'Til next year!...

Off to the Races!

Sorry I've been such a bad blogger, but I know you all didn't mind loading up my page and seeing Kyle's adorable face staring back at you. In any case, I'm off to good ol' C'ville tonight for what should be a glorious weekend of fun. It's Foxfield time, that annual event when we get all dolled up to go to a horse race and pray to see at least one horse. Really it's an excuse to see old friends and to enjoy the beautiful sights and all the delicious foods of Charlottesville! And of course to spend an entire weekend reminiscing about the glory days of college. (See last year's post for a reminder...) I'll be back with a full update and photos. Cheers!

Mischievous Kyle

According to Lan, this is what happens when you leave a clever little 9-month-old unattended for a quick minute... He gets into his Aquaphor jar, and the rest is a story he'll hear about for the rest of his life. Oh, that and an absolutely priceless and adorable photo! Kinda reminds me of when I pretended I was putting on sunscreen with an orange creamsicle that was melting all over me. I knew Kyle and I had a special bond.

Ray LaMontagne/Gnarls Barkley

This post comes courtesy of Stereogum (who posted via Village Indian's Amrit).

Now available for listening is a fantastic mp3 of Ray LaMontagne covering Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." Gnarls Barkley (duo of Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse) are already making waves for their yet-to-be-released debut album St. Elsewhere (U.S. release date: May 9). Officially, "Crazy" is the first #1 single in the UK to make it to the top spot based on download sales only. And all that in just about a week. Pretty impressive.

Anyway, rather than post the link here, I'll refer you all to Stereogum's post for the mp3. And from there you can also visit Village Indian's original post which has the Gnarls Barkley version for comparison.

Web o' music

I'm pretty late on posting about this, but I figure what the hey, someone out there may not yet have stumbled upon the wonder that is Pandora. The Music Genome Project created this incredible website to help people discover more music they loved, based on the artists they already loved. Sure, it seems like an obvious concept, and there have been some more simple versions that appeared on the web before, but Pandora takes it all a step further by actually creating "radio stations" with streaming audio for you based on your selection of a favorite artist.

For example, I picked The Decemberists as a favorite artist of mine, and it automatically selects a bunch of other random songs based on similar music qualities that describe The Decemberists. So you think to yourself, "Why the heck did you pick this to put in my Decemberists radio station??" And they answer, "Based on what you've told us so far, we're playing this track because it features a subtle use of vocal harmony, mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation, major key tonality, acoustic rhythm guitars and many other similarities identified in the music genome project." Oh, well you got me there...! The cool thing is, from there you can let them know if they picked well or picked poorly, and they'll continue to personally customize your radio stations to adjust to your tastes. It's quite brilliant in an almost-stalkery way.

According to the FAQ, the peeps at the Music Genome Project have "carefully listened to the songs of over 10,000 different artists - ranging from popular to obscure - and analyzed the musical qualities of each song one attribute at a time." Ummm, well thanks guys. That saved me a lot of time.

Anyway, it's definitely a great way to discover new music, hear some old favorites, and kind of have a fun little music adventure along the way!

Things to do while your coworker is on vacation...

I don't know how long this one's been spreading around on the Web, but I just saw it for the first time last week and found it pretty hilarious! Guess it's a good thing I don't work in an actual cube!

Oh, how I love the small things in life.

Today Huan alerted me to the fact that tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 3 seconds after 1:02 AM, it will be 01:02:03 04/05/06. Freakin' sweet!

Does that excite anyone else as much as it does me?

24 vs. the National Championship?

Count on Tony Kornheiser to accurately reflect everyone's feelings on the 24 vs. NCAA b-ball final tonight... Thank goodness for Tivo/DVR though, right?

By the way, did anyone else know that Jack Bauer's given name is...
Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland? That's a ridiculous number of names, but they're all pretty sweet!!!

Late-night update:
Ok, so the game was kinda boring (except One Shining Moment, of course) and 24 wasn't bad. But the question is: as ridiculous and unbelievable as 24 is on a regular basis (I loved how Jack escaped the natural gas plant unscathed, while Bierko was on the brink of death), I feel like they may have officially "jumped the shark" tonight when they revealed the latest mole. But naturally, I'll continue to eagerly tune in...

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, take 2...

Today was my second go-round of the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile run around D.C. to celebrate the fully blossomed cherry trees around town. I woke up around 6 am along with Huan, Molly, Auddie, and Tim (Molly's bro) to do what we do best-- err, not really, but at least we try hard.

This year was instantly ten times better than last year's race because it was a most beautiful spring day-- sunny, slightly breezy and probably about 60 degrees at race time. You really couldn't have asked for better running conditions, and compared with last year's frigid chill and wind, it was really a pleasant run (as evidenced by my reaction below... just what am I doing??)

I was slightly concerned about my race preparation, if only because I'd been away on a ski trip and not exactly focusing on my training. Aside from my semi-routine runs before work, I hadn't really gutted anything out this time around. But I guess I'm beginning to realize that even if I don't have a strict training regimen, I can still count on finishing ten miles-- it's just how well and how fast that may vary-- and I have to say, that's a pretty cool feeling.

Anyway, the race went well and I felt great the whole way. My pace wasn't spectacular, but it was about expected, and I really didn't mind because I was actually enjoying myself throughout the long course. Unlike last year, I really took in all the sights and my surroundings, especially all the beautiful blossoms everywhere around me! It was just a perfect day, really!

Now for some post-race pics (thumbails again, sorry!):

The runners and our devoted fans.
It's crazy enough that people pay money to wake up at the crack of dawn to go running, but even crazier that they have people who support them! Thanks guys!!

Three sibs.
Auddie got contacts!! (Is it just me or do we look like we're the same age?)

The rents.
Look at those blossoms!!!

Finally, a big happy 80th birthday to my G-ma Ba Noi, and also happy birthday wishes to my uncles Chu Ban and Bac Bao!

Happy Spring to all! The idea that I will be able to leave work and still enjoy some sunshine is enough to put a smile on my face. Time to put those scarves away and pull out the flip flops, yippee!!

Rocky Mountain High

Well, the trip out to Colorado was just about perfect. Since it was my first work vacation-- and therefore I would have been content to do just about anything so long as I wasn't at work-- I had minimal expectations, so it was just icing on the cake that everything about the trip was completely amazing and I was basically spoiled and pampered for 5 days straight.

After arriving on Saturday morning, we drove from Denver out to Beaver Creek and arrived at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton at Bachelor Gulch resort. After a long day of travel, we decided to hold off on cramming in any afternoon skiing and to just explore the area and kick back.

Check out the residence:

Sunday was our first full day of action and we immediately appreciated the wonder of ski-in/ski-out, as we put on our ski gear and were basically at the foot of the mountain and entrance to the ski lift. I started the day on my snowboard and it was like heaven to be on the wide open slopes of the West, complete with a few fresh inches of powder.

(Look how there's no one else in sight! It was like having a private mountain all to myself!)

The end of day 1 found us all aching and exhausted, and the best remedy for that was the spa/hot tub/heated outdoor pool. What better way to end the first full day on the slopes?

We started day 2 with a private ski lesson with Jim, an awesome instructor who moved out here a number of years ago to retire and is now a full-time Beaver Creek instructor. After realizing I was holding people up on my board and also that I couldn't take full advantage of the mountain as a "beginner," I decided to switch over to skis for a confidence boost and to be able to keep up with the gang. Before the lesson, all of us had different skiing styles, as evidenced by the fact that we ended up at the bottom of the runs at different times. Jim showed us some basic tips to improve our skiing, and by the end of the lesson we were handling a rough and narrow mogul run (not by choice!!) After the 3-hour lesson with Jim, it seemed we were all on the same page and suddenly, according to My-Van, we looked almost like clones coming down the mountain at exactly the same speed and form. This made the rest of the trip really great, though, as I really felt like I was skiing and truly enjoying it for the first time, comfortable in my form and not exhausted or too sore at the end of the day.

Here's the group on lesson day:

We all suddenly felt like pros on our skis, so we decided to venture out to Vail for our last full day of skiing. We made the short drive over to the village and spent a great day out on the mountain. We explored the front-side bowls, some other nice blue runs, and ended the day with one great run down the China Bowl, on the back-side, which opened itself up to some incredible views.

In the midst of all this ski excitement, I forgot to mention that we ended every day with a hot tub soak followed by a delicious dinner. We enjoyed quite a variety of Colorado's finest: Frites, a fun, french style Brasserie, Blue Moose Pizza in Beaver Creek village (where I got to fulfill my Fat Tire beer craving), Sweet Basil in Vail Village, and finally Splendido, in a lovely mountainous Chateau. Let's just say it was good thing we squeezed in some daily exercise on our skis!

Lastly, I must give another huge thanks to Co Chau, Bac Thong, and Meevs (we missed you Tweevs!) for inviting Dad, Auddie and me out to spend the week with them. It was definitely memorable and though it was short, Auddie was quick to dub it as her "Best vacation of all time." And we all know those are big words coming from a well-traveled gal like her! On the drive to the airport she and I decided that I'd move out to Colorado, she'd go to college there and we could just become a couple of ski bums. Sounds pretty appealing right now, that's for sure.

To conclude, here are some additional photos... you know, the requisite cheesy "poles in the air" pose as well as some other postcard-worthy shots.

I swear there were other skiiers on the mountain...

From the room balcony:

From the top of Vail:

Time for a vacation!

George Mason in the Elite Eight? Who'da thunk it?

Just so my blog readers don't get antsy, I'm giving you all fair warning that I'll be away and hopefully (though unlikely) -- nowhere near a computer for a few days. I'm off to Colorado for a 5 day ski jaunt, and I can't wait! Updates to follow with photos included. Cheers.

Quick Elliott Smith shout-out

I rediscovered an amazing live version of Elliott Smith's "Angeles" tonight and subsequently repeated it about 10 times. Then I decided I wanted to share it because it's such a beautiful version.

Elliott Smith - Live in Stockholm Sweden (6.2.98) - Angeles

The guitar work is impeccable. The recording quality is top notch. And the song is... well, just hear it for yourself. It doesn't get any better than this.

The softer side of Jack Bauer?

My weekly browse through the iTunes music store led me to Jack Bauer's celebrity playlist. (Yes, I know it's actually Kiefer Sutherland's list, I just prefer the idea that Jack Bauer is not a fictional character.) Anyway, through the list I learned that Mr. Bauer himself is quite the music fan, and aside from boasting a collection of over a couple dozen Gibson guitars, he started a music studio/record label with none other than artist Jude Cole, who I guess is best known for his early '90s work.

The label, Ironworks Music, which claims to be all about real artists -- those who aren't necessarily "pop hit acts" but "really believe in themselves" -- is not so original in its goal to find undiscovered, talented artists who deserve to be signed over, say, Lindsay Lohan, but it is the only label that can claim to be co-owned with artists hand-picked by the most ruthless and intimidating government agent ever.

Anyway, the first release under the label is for a guy/band named Rocco DeLuca & The Burden. The album, I Trust You to Kill Me, will be in stores on March 21 (but incidentally is already available for purchase on iTunes) and of course, a few cuts are streaming on MySpace.

And suddenly I feel duped... clearly it's a coincidence that Kiefer Sutherland would release his celebrity playlist to iTunes with three songs from his own label's artist on the very week the debut album for the record label is released, right? Jack isn't that sneaky, is he?

Geez, I've barely given it a listen but somehow just because Bauer digs it, I'm all about the promo. It's shameless, really. He's got all of America held hostage!! Damn him for duping me. Sorry for being so careless, dear readers. I guess that's why Jack Bauer really is the man.

A very Sweet Sixteen!

This weekend's basketball games continued in their excitement as they set the stage for the Sweet Sixteen next week. For local fans, the results were especially awesome, with both George Mason and Georgetown advancing in huge upsets (and thus wreaking havoc on lots of brackets). Though GW fell to Duke on Saturday, it's nice to have two other area teams to cheer on.

Today's funniest March Madness moment came via the CBS score box for the Bradley-Pittsburgh game. Everyone had to have a good laugh over this one:

Teeheehee!

March Madness & Shamrock Shakes

The below post was prepared for publication on Thursday, March 16, but due to what I discovered was a widespread "Blogger 505" error, I was unable to post it. Rather than delete it outright, I'll leave it in its original form below, and update the following information: after gloating about my great first round March Madness picks through Thursday, Friday's games left me with a 21-11 first round record. But at least I enjoyed last night's games at an extremely overcrowded and loud bar whilst enjoying a Guinness!!

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3.16.06

Today kicked off one of the most exciting sports events of the year. Whether or not you're a sports fan, or whether or not you "follow" college basketball, March Madness is a time that all can enjoy. This year is particularly exciting because I'm participating in my first-ever office pool. I've got my bracket filled out, and with five TVs spread out around the office, it's hard not to get distracted by the daytime games to see how your teams are doing. As the Post reports, some companies are cracking down on the potential lost productivity. (Sorry, friends at CEB!)

If today's near-upsets of BC and Tennessee (both of whom I picked) are any indication of how nail-biting and exciting the tourney will be, we're in for a great couple weeks.

And GW's second-half 18-point comeback and run to win in OT over UNC-Wilmington tonight just topped off what was a great opening day of basketball. Talk about under pressure. Whew!

Through 12 games that have finished, I've only had one bad first round pick (Seton Hall). So far so good, eh?

In other news, I tried my first McDonald's Shamrock Shake today. Apparently since they introduced this seasonal green milkshake (tastes like a Mint Chocolate Chip shake-- delicious!) back in the 70s and then only offered it on a very select and limited basis thereafter, the Shamrock Shake has had a cult-like following. As a lifelong McDonald's fan, I feel like I completely missed the boat on this one and am actually a bit embarrassed about being out of the loop. But I guess it's not too late, as they seem to be back on the menus (or at least available upon request at select locations) and available as a delicious St. Patty's day treat. I did kind of have a stomach ache for the entire afternoon though, and while I'm not completely certain the Shake was to blame, I'm not quite sure I should back this product 100%. Either way, a Happy St. Patty's Day to all, Irish or not...


Current Music: Clementine, by Elliott Smith

A new download, at last...

Since I haven't plugged any music in a while, I'll take this opportunity to bring back my Sunday downloads. Most of you (whether or not you've known it) have probably already heard Joshua Radin's music featured on popular television shows such as "Scrubs" and more recently "Grey's Anatomy."

I first heard him on an episode of "Scrubs," which is one of my favorite shows in part because of the fantastic music. Zach Braff's got some good taste, and he's been plugging his pal Joshua Radin for quite some time. After I heard "Closer" on an episode last season, I scoured the web to find out more on this guy. Finally, a year later, he's released his first full-length album, We Were Here, which, as of now is only available as an album download on iTunes. But word has it he just signed with Columbia Records, so the album should hopefully be available in tangible record-store form soon ("late spring," according to his website). Among his original tunes, the album also features a surprising acoustic cover of Yaz's "Only You." Who can resist?

Click here to stream some audio of Joshua Radin's recent in-studio performance and interview with the fabulous KCRW.

And in the meantime, here's a sampler... enjoy!

Joshua Radin :: Closer

Congrats to Chloe!

Before I head to bed (it's my third night on Tylenol Cold PM-- works wonders!), I must quickly post on tonight's "Project Runway" finale. In what was a surprising outcome (at least before everyone saw the runway show), Chloe came out on top, rising above frontrunners Daniel V. and Santino to be crowned the winner. After last week's episode in which we got a preview of everyone's collection, I swore it was going to be Santino, not only because his designs seemed to be the best, but moreso for the way Bravo was turning him into this apologetic and suddenly (more) likeable character.

In any case, I was pleasantly surprised that the final two came down to Chloe and Daniel V! And while I truly think the others may have wanted it more than Chloe, and while I didn't love all her pieces, I definitely think her collection was the best-- most professional, sophisticated, and basically just immaculate in its creation. I bet she's all like "Aw man, now I gotta go hang out with some Banana designer? New York is played out, honey, I'm ready to go back to Houston..." And I'm sure Daniel V. is laughing in her face now that he's got a Michael Kors safety net to fall back on!

Anyway, I thought the dress that Grace wore, in particular, was just stunning and so well-made. I never really liked Grace as a model but I thought she looked great!

See Chloe's full collection here with some additional detailed shots here.
And if you want to judge for yourself, check out Daniel's and Santino's collections, too. (You can also see Kara's... I have no idea how she snuck her way into Fashion Week with some of these designs)

One last observation: So I know I'm short and everything, but is it just me or is Chloe literally like 4'9"??? Even when wearing shoes she looked to be about half the size of average-height people! Way to keep it real, Chloe.

TGIM?

"TGIM?" was the beginning of the subject line of an e-mail that I, along with all my coworkers, received this afternoon, alerting us to our new company-wide dress code.

Apparently after reviewing employee survey results from '05, one of the higher-ups made the decision to "relax" the work environment and allow Casual Fridays everyday. Yippee! Granted, the definition of Business Casual in my bureau was already pretty relaxed before, but now that we can roll in wearing jeans (so long as they are "neat, clean, and unripped") whenever we want is pretty freakin' sweet. It was definitely the highlight of the day, and I'm sure the new policy will make going to work that much more pleasurable, at least for the immediate future and before the novelty wears off. I know all you people with the artsy-fartsy jobs (or the young and fun corporate jobs) who never considered not wearing jeans are just scratching your head at this one, but I myself am pretty psyched! No more thinking ahead about how I'll rotate and match my dress pants and tops for the upcoming week. And a great excuse to shop for new jeans!

Monday Television Commentary

Post-Oscar Thoughts:

In what seemed to be a year of fair play, with no "Lord of the Rings" to sweep the show and almost every big movie winning at least one award (Each of the six big categories-- Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor/Actress was taken by a different movie), last night's Oscar show was a bit lackluster. Perhaps it was the fact that -- with the exception of "Crash" as best picture stealer-- much of it went as predicted. That said, I was still extremely happy to see the actress awards go to Rachel Weisz and Reese Witherspoon (Whoa, two "RWs," crazy!).

Reese in particular was one of the highlights of the night and delivered what was, for me, the best speech of the night. It's funny when you're listening to speeches and in your mind you kind of guide yourself through what you think they should say next ("ok, now thank your husband, then wrap it up with something poignant and thoughtful...") and the actor does just that in a very articulate way. The gal is just so cute and whenever she's on camera I can't help but love her and have a big smile on my face. Maybe it's because no matter what roles she had before or after "Legally Blonde," she'll always just be Elle Woods to me. And did we really ever think Elle could win an Oscar? I'm just so proud! Now that I think about it, Reese has pretty nice repertoire... "Cruel Intentions," "Election,"... and for those of you who haven't seen Reese's first movie, "The Man in the Moon," it's worth a rental, not only to see Reese as a 14-year-old but also because it stars Jason London. Great flick! And to think, she's getting paid $29 million for her next movie. That's just wrong, isn't it? I bet Ryan Phillippe sure didn't know he was getting that big of a sugar momma when they got together.

Um, ok, moving on from Reese...

John Stewart's hosting gig has gotten pretty poor reviews all around. I think he was pretty much hit-or-miss on the night (the hit, of course, being his Bjork-Cheney joke, and misses being, well, lots of other jokes that fell flat). All in all, I think he may be a little too deadpan for the Oscar audience with not enough tap-dancing Billy Crystal in him to keep everyone awake-- especially the old peeps-- when the show enters its third hour...

24 (spoilers below if you missed last night's episode):

I just have to comment on tonight's new and "explosive" (to use a TV critic word) 2-hour episode of "24." You know Jack is getting really ruthless when he starts not only threatening the bad guys with guns in their faces, but then shooting their wives instead. Yikes, ease up there Jackie. And what's with Tony Almeida rising from the dead again? Last season you get shot in the neck and you're up running around within 5 hours, and this time it's a car bomb explosion and you're on your feet again on the same day? What say we take a breather and watch some Tivo or something.

So we're about 12 hours into the day now and out of nowhere comes the Vice President. Where ya been, pal? Not out hunting, I hope. Just when it appears someone wise may have arrived to give hopeless President Logan some support, we find out his second-in-command is just as whacked out as he is. "I don't know what's going on since I've been M.I.A. all day, but since I don't feel like dealing with it, let's impose Martial Law!!!" Oh boy, this should be good.

In more serious news, the death of Edgar tonight came as a shock to all loyal "24" fans. He and Chloe were like the CTU peas in a pod, and that he would succomb to death from nerve gas within the hallowed halls of CTU Headquarters is a true television tragedy and is made extra ironic by the fact that his good-hearted nature is what led to his ultimate downfall.

That last scene, however, completely summed up what's clearly a pervading high-school culture at CTU. You had to feel bad for the random and unnamed CTU employee after she banged on the door of the sealed room and all the "popular" A-list kids inside (Jack, Audrey, Buchanan, Chloe-- but only because Chloe is smart and does everyone's homework) just kind of stared blankly, basically shrugged their shoulders and were like "Oops, sorry, you're on your own!" Only when they saw Edgar in the danger zone did they actually show a shred of emotion at the thought of a human being actually dying before their eyes.

Anyway, it should be interesting to see what happens next week when Jack is the one in trouble... which kid will be the one to sacrifice himself for the captain of the football team? Stay tuned.

Writer's Block

Just as I thought my blogging inspiration was back, I've been staring at this blank screen for a good five minutes thinking about my next post. Chalk it up to the rut I feel like I'm in or blame it on my bad case of whooping cough, but I've got nothin..nothin good, anyway.

I guess since the Oscars are on tonight and there's no "Grey's Anatomy" to look forward to, I can discuss that a bit. Since I've actually seen a number of the movies, I'm pretty excited to see who takes home the awards. I've been a big "Brokeback" fan since I saw the movie, and since I got a haircut yesterday in which the stylist fully blew out my hair and made me look like Anne Hathaway did in the movie (i.e., a Texas beauty queen in the 70s), it must be a sign that it will live up to all its Oscar hype. However, I did finally see "Walk the Line" a couple nights ago on DVD and was thoroughly impressed by both Joaquin and Reese's performances, particularly the fact that they sung every note heard in the movie.

Other than that, I'm rooting for any award for "The Constant Gardener" (definitely one of my favorites all year) and rooting against "The History of Violence" (might have been the worst movie I paid to see that received so much critical acclaim). "Syriana" was pretty good but frankly, it confused me, and "Good Night and Good Luck" was brilliantly done but ultimately difficult for me to connect with. David Straithairn did an amazing job in his role as Edward R. Murrow though, and I think the Best Actor category will be one of the toughest to pick tonight.

Anyway, as my dad and Huan currently argue as to whether or not Jessica Alba is actually hot, I'm going to kick back and enjoy the show...

Oops, there I go again...

Just as I thought I was back on my blogging game, a nice long weekend in New York distracts me, combined with two late nights at work to start the week. Now, as I'm sitting down to say something, a little Sevie has some homework to do on the computer. It's always something, isn't it?

Well, so as not to make this a completely worthless post, here's a link from Entertainment Weekly that wraps up their theory on "Lost." It sounds pretty good to me, but then again I'm usually pretty slow when it comes to these things. Blame it on balancing too many shows-- my plots get mixed up. I am glad, though, that the token irrational and inept CTU employee on "24" got the boot yesterday. One more week of plump Sean Astin and I was about to have a fit.

Oh, and one more thing. As I was completing an online transaction earlier today (using my real name, of course), I was surprised and baffled to find this message after I entered all my normal info and clicked submit: A name can only contain letters, spaces, /, ', and periods

Oh really? Cause last I checked my first name actually had a hyphen in it. I didn't realize you could just rewrite the rules on what goes for names. I guess it's understandable since those backslashes are really becoming popular... (!?!) But seriously, my problems never end...

More on the Idols

Is it just me or is Ace Young the Idol hottie? As evidenced by his web-following, clearly it's not just me. So he wasn't really my style at first, a little too polished with his whole scruffy/frat boy look ( if that makes any sense) but after tonight I'm won over! I even caught myself almost squealing like a teenager during the middle of his performance of George Michael's "Father Figure" (perfect song choice!) . As my mom said, "He's a Hottie, and he can sing? Vote for him!" Word to that, mom.

Let the real games begin...

American Idol Season 5 kicked off its real competition tonight starting with the Top 12 girls, and despite being fairly disappointed overall, Paris Bennett's performance of "Midnight Train to Georgia" more than made up for it. The girl was seriously on her game from the minute she took the stage; I couldn't believe her confidence and comfort level up there. As an aside, is anyone else noticing the striking resemblance of Paris to Dr. Bailey on "Grey's Anatomy"? Auddie and I had already been calling her 'Mini Bailey,' and with tonight's new hairdo, she's really looked like her spitting miniature image. Here's your photo comparison, and I'll update the photo when I can grab a better one from tonight's performance:

Other Idol thoughts: my early faves at this point are Paris, of course, as well as Lisa Tucker (I mean, she was Nala in a production of "The Lion King," who can resist??) and Katharine McPhee. Can we just skip all the bad people (Um, we get that the judges think Becky O'Donohue is "gorgeous" and all, but I thought her rendition of "Because the Night" was straight-up drunken bar Karaoke or something) and move on to the final 3?

Besides, I actually watched the Olympics tonight-- oh come on, who can pass up women's figure skating??-- and trying to cram in both lengthy programs is making my brain fry.

Obligatory Olympic Post

So based on the fact that other networks were not backing down in the face of this year's Winter Olympics in Torino on NBC, I really didn't think I'd be watching much of the televised action (come on, "24" vs. Ice Dancing? No contest). Not to mention the Internet spoilers didn't help the cause. But now and again I've actually managed to tune in to catch some of the more exciting headlines of this year's games. By the time you read this, it'll all be old news, but I guess with the whole time delay anyway, it's already old by the time it's on TV.

To start, check out this amazing photo of a long hill ski jumper:

If you didn't see the U.S. lowlight of Lindsay Jacobelli's late-run tumble in the Women's Snowboarding Cross (one of the coolest events ever, by the way), you've probably heard about it since. The same girl who was so calm after her Visa check card had been stolen (worst Olympic athlete commercial?) clearly couldn't maintain her composure enough to win a race that was hers and claim the gold medal that was only one easy jump within her reach. Yikes.. there's some irony for you. Sometimes I don't know how these athletes do it. I kick myself over a near-win in text-twist (what's that last 3 letter word?? I didn't even know 'daw' was a word!), so I can't imagine coming so close to being the world's best and then blowing it. And then having to hear everyone talk about how you failed. And of course knowing randomite bloggers like myself are still talking about it. Now that's a guaranteed meltdown.

In other random Olympic excitement, I was at the gym watching some Saturday morning coverage when I was initially bummed to find the men's 12.5km biathlon pursuit on the little screen. Little did I know, this event is actually incredibly exciting to watch, and it even kept me on the dreadmill for nearly an hour so I could watch the race in full! You see, the biathlon involves a cross country skiing course (at a ridiculously high altitude, and mostly uphill, mind you) with intermittent stops where athletes have to shoot targets that are 50 yards away and sometimes as small as a silver dollar. It's pretty freakin' amazing when you stop and think about it. Anyway, the race that I happened to catch was extremely exciting from start to finish, with the Frenchman Vincent Defrasne barely edging out the favorite 5-time Olympic gold medalist Ole Einar Bjoerndalen from Norway. He even overcame a slip and near-fall with the finish line in sight!

Last thoughts: I'm not too crazy about the medals this year. The big hole in the middle of the medal makes it look kinda cheap, like what a little kid would make in kindergarten class and bring home for his mom. Oh well, I suppose it's still pretty special. I wouldn't complain if you gave me one. And at least there's a story behind the design.

Happy Birthday, Bro!

Happy 26th Birthday to my brother, Huan! Thanks to his companionship, I got to play sports outside with the boys, walk to 7-11 to get slurpees and slim jims, and basically have a whole lot of fun. All around I like to think it made me a pretty tough gal (read: tomboy). Thanks, Huan, for always including me even when it was just you and the boys. And yes, I forgive you for practicing all those WWF wrestling moves on me.

Anyway, here's to Huan, who after all these years I can still count on to be a protective big bro and a great pal. Here are some of my favorite snapshots of our youth:

Project Runway

So I totally missed the boat on this one, but thanks to last week's snow-in, I was able to settle in on the couch and catch the last five episodes of Season 2 of Bravo's "Project Runway."

Naturally, in my continual effort to always be "in the loop" when it comes to anything pop culture (note: my definition of pop culture does not encompass celebrity culture), and after receiving a Project Runway mini-mag with a recent Banana Republic purchase, I just couldn't ignore it any longer! I finally gave in after being part an engaging e-mail chain that exchanged thoughts on the show; whose designs sucked, whose were amazing; who should win, who will win, and so on and so forth.

So this is like a much better, more interesting version of the now-defunct "Apprentice," except Heidi Klum is a far more attractive host than is Donald Trump, and "auf Wiedersehen!" is the new "You're Fired." (But wasn't the original reality one-liner "You are the weakest link...g'bye!"?)

Anyway, if you're even remotely into fashion-- scratch that, you don't even need to be into fashion to enjoy this show, the great personalities and group dynamic are enough to pull you in.

To give you the quick rundown, each week designers compete in a specific task (e.g. design an outfit using only supplies purchased at a flower shop; design an evening gown that Iman will wear to a red-carpet event), and the winner of the final challenge wins a mentorship with the Banana Republic design team, $100,000 to start their own line, a 2007 Saturn SkyRoadster (who knew Saturn made sports cars? It's not terrible, either.), and a full spread in Elle magazine featuring their original designs.

Here's a quick sampling of what they do: below are the three best designs from the "Garden Party" (flower shop-only) challenge:

Now that it's down to the final three in the ultimate face-off at Olympus Fashion Week in New York, I have to root for our Vietnamese gal Chloe Dao, though I actually like Daniel V. the best (if only because he is only 24 and it makes me completely jealous to think of how good he is at what he does) , and with the way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if the over-exuberant Santino wows the judges come Fashion Week. The final challenge isn't airing for a couple weeks (Wed., March 1, 10 PM) , and before then it appears Bravo is running a PR marathon, so if you're feeling lazy and one of the lucky ones who gets Prez. day off (you don't actually have to be lucky, you just have to not be me), tune in to catch up on all the excitement!

A note from the editor.

Dear Readers:

I deeply apologize for any personal anguish I have caused by neglecting my blog and thus, neglecting you, my audience and sole reason for cyber-fruition. Any excuse I have is just that, an excuse, and if I call myself a true "blogger" then I must follow through on this implied promise to serve the Web, much as a gardener would water his plants or a pet owner would walk his dog. However, I cannot make guarantees, and as much as I would love to be on the daily updating circuit, I fear this is a far too ambitious goal. That said, I will promise to try harder and to do better, so that if you load up pouy.blogspot.com at least twice during your workweek, you won't see the same played-out post that greeted you the time before. If I do fail, however, please remember that there are many other fabulous things to read on the Web, so I encourage you to go forth; explore at will, you'll be amazed at what's out there! On the other hand, I do appreciate those of you who regularly visit, comment, or give me suggestions. After all, without a little prodding and guilt-tripping, I'd probably have stopped updating long ago. Thanks again and again and again.

Regards,
Pouy T

Music for a good cause

Many of you may have heard another great TV tune at the end of last week's riveting Grey's Anatomy episode following the Super Bowl, so here's my post about it.


(Photo by T.Dozol, from In The Sun Foundation)

In response to the devastation experienced in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, Michael Stipe, king of cool and lead singer of R.E.M., started a foundation called In The Sun. Not knowing what exactly he could do to help, but knowing full well what he was good at, Stipe decided to record an EP and give 100% of the proceeds to Mercy Corps to benefit the victims of the Hurricane. The timing may seem a little delayed, but Stipe makes a good point in saying even though the news cycle may have pushed Katrina from the headlines, there is still much to be done. The EP, "In the Sun," features six different versions of the Joseph Arthur song of the same name, and all are worth a listen. Chris Martin is featured on two cuts, one is mixed by my favorite ex-teenybopper J. Timberlake, and another features the original songwriter Joseph Arthur.

The EP is available in full from iTunes. Six tracks of great music at $4.95, all for a good cause. You can't beat it. Go forth and check it out.

#1 single

As if I needed anything new to watch on TV, I managed to catch a couple reruns of Lisa Loeb's new reality TV Show, #1 Single, and I have to say it's really quite good. Who knew Lisa Loeb, 37 and desperate to have babies (she said it herself -- "I don't want maybes, i want babies!" were her exact words), could be so great for TV? Despite the fact that she agreed to put her life on TV and thus can be considered not "normal" and even slightly crazy, she comes off as an incredibly down-to-earth and totally cool person. It's a little unsettling that she constantly emphasizes her normalness and anti-gossip/celeb personality, yet she's on this cable reality TV show about her personal life. I dunno. Maybe that's the irony of it all. Either way, in watching Lisa in her dating escapades, you kind of want to be her friend and you definitely want her to find Mr. Right. The way she dials up her mom to chat, stuffs donuts in her face, or is a self-professed techie geek... all of it is completely charming and makes her an infinitely likeable "character" for her show.

I do have to say though, what kind of unbelievable coincidence is it that in Lisa's first AirTroductions experience, her date would be with another quasi-celebrity (author Allen Salkin, who penned the Seinfeldian Festivus) who would subsequently land Lisa on New York Post's page 6? Strange I tell you.

Anywho. I'll probably have to cut out another show on my ever-growing roster to make room for this. After all, it was Lisa who originally inspired me "Stay," as I, with my slightly Lisa Loeb-esque glasses pranced around my basement doing my own personal rendition of the music video... To think, that was 1994!!!

Happy New Year!

Though Sunday was officially the start of the lunar new year, it's never too late to say "Chuc Mung Nam Moi!"

This year is extra special because it's the Year of the Dog (me), so we'll see what unfolds. Though according to the fortune teller, next year is actually my year...

Here is a photo from the weekend, taken in the midst of our Saturday homemade chili-cheese dog fest (that's why we look so happy), our little "snack" before the real Têt meals began. Kyle is featured in a very adorable and festive outfit:

And here's another of him eating his li xi (that's the lucky money you get in the red envelope... silly Kyle):

Update on Colin Meloy/Laura Veirs

Just as I was regretting having to miss this Saturday's Colin Meloy show at the Birchmere, I get word that through the wonders of technology, NPR will be broadcasting the show live on their website as part of their Live Concert Series and offering it up for download shortly thereafter. Pretty sweet if you ask me! In other web-awesomeness, you can also download Iron & Wine and Calexico's 9:30 club show from back in November.

Isn't it crazy to think a time actually existed when there were live shows and you had to be there to know what went on and hear that rare performance of your favorite song? Sigh... Another story for the grandkids, I suppose...

Ohhhhprah...

Just two weeks after Oprah came to James Frey's defense on Larry King Live in what appeared to be a career-saving phone call for him, Queen Ope invited him on her show today and, in a surprising move, gave him his second live television whooping in front of millions of viewers. Only this time, she didn't hold back. Ok, Frey's appearance on Larry King wasn't pretty either... but come on, King didn't really know what was going on, it seemed like he was reading cue card questions... and after all, he hadn't even read the book! Oprah on the other hand, gave Frey a serious lashing, like a mommy putting his son in the corner. And indeed, Frey looked like a boy who'd just gotten a spanking and was getting grounded for the rest of his writing career.

Oprah came out and said she felt "duped" and "embarassed" in what was basically a cover-your-ass move by Harpo after she realized it was a mistake to so quickly and easily overlook the "truth" in her initial defense of Frey and his lies. It was really a sight to see, Oprah in her scary element on that stage, and her studio audience-- who not long ago were the ones on their feet pumping their fists for him-- moaning and gasping after Frey's meek defenses and cheering after Oprah smacked him down. Yikes.

Anyway, I did think it was a bit of a cheap shot for Oprah to do what she did. Clearly she got busted by someone after she made that Larry King phone and had to quickly do something to restore her Book Club cred. But still, you have to wonder if Frey knew what he was getting into. I imagine he was probably thinking "Yay! Oprah saved me.. now she's inviting me back so we can have a party on her show!" That much was apparent, as he seemed (once again) ill-prepared for her direct accusations and blunt questions.

So while book sales looked good after Frey's Larry King appearance, it'll be interesting to see how they hold up after she-who-directs-book-sales said her piece today.

In a completely unrelated observation, Oprah's hair looked quite lovely today. I'd post a picture if I could find one. Update: Ah, here we go...

One more for January 24.

While swimming in a sea of chick-music enthusiasm last night, I forgot about another great music release for tomorrow. Before Colin Meloy ruled as head Decemberist and was a dorky college student in Montana, he was in a band called Tarkio. Now, riding the waves of the Decemberists' fame, Kill Rock Stars is releasing a compilation of 2-disc set of the entire Tarkio catalog, entitled Omnibus, which promises to be as delightful while possibly more folky/acoustic/underproduced than what we know the Decemberists to be.

As a sampler track, I'll post a link to the first song I heard from Tarkio. Being the scholarly and well-read English major that he is, Colin Meloy penned a song called "Tristan and Iseult," which, as the upcoming major motion picture tells us, can also be spelled Isolde. Incidentally, the theme for that movie is a completely different song performed by Gavin DeGraw. Oh well. Here's your Tarkio preview. I'll have more to say once my pre-order comes in. Amazon.com says they only have 3 left in stock!

Tarkio :: Tristan and Iseult

In unfortunate news, I'll be missing Colin Meloy (with Laura Veirs opening) at the Birchmere this weekend (Têt -- Vietnamese New Year -- takes precedence over all!), so I guess listening to this new CD will have to make up for it. And as I'm slowly beginning to feel a concert void in my life, I'm still looking for that first good live show to properly kick off 2006...

Sneak previews.

In honor of a couple albums coming out this Tuesday, I'll post a couple links to some great new tracks. The first is one of those all-star indie collaborations off Jenny Lewis's new solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat. The track features Ben Gibbard, Conor Oberst and M. Ward, and if it's any indication of the rest of the album, it should be a good one.

Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins :: Handle With Care

Cat Power's The Greatest is my current musical fixation, and with good reason. I've had the title track stuck in my head just about every day for the past week, and I really think it's an absolutely perfect track. In case any of you missed it when I previously posted it, here's the link again, straight from Matador, and I'll also post another song for your consideration.

Cat Power :: Empty Shell

Instead of posting the album cover, here's a shot of Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) as she appears on the cover of this month's Harp magazine. Consider it a plug for one of my favorite music magazines that covers so many of the artists I love.

Whoa, look at me and all this chick-music love! I'm surprising myself; maybe 2006 will be the year I add some female singers to my all-time favorites.

Jack Bauer is back!

Whew! I just finished watching part one of the two-day season premiere of the best action drama on TV, FOX's "24." Here's my enthusiastic promotion post to kick off season 5.

I love this show for so many reasons. For the late-career boost it gave to Kiefer Sutherland, who is perfectly cast as the most badass character on earth (or at least on television), Jack Bauer. For the ridiculous ass-kicking sequences in which Jack will single-handedly clear out a room of "bad guys" who are all shooting at him. For the predictability of some parts, e.g. the appearance of "the mole." For stubborn and annoyingly cast characters I can't stand but who are integral to the storyline, e.g. President Logan, as idiotic and unlikeable as they come. For the many unbelievable-but-oh-yeah-its-a-TV-show scenarios, e.g. in season 3 when Tony, after getting shot in the neck and in critical condition, is on his feet at work later in the day (will he pull out another miracle after tonight?) For Chloe and her one-liners, which in early seasons were awkward and uncomfortable, but are now classic quotables. And finally, for that distinctive clock-ticking sound that indicates a commercial or the end of the show and always inevitably induces some kind of adrenaline rush within me, e.g. "ohmygod what's going to happen!?"

In any case, the premiere was well done-- a great way to pull in new viewers with its action as well as its unanswered questions, and just enough to remind old viewers how awesome this show is. In college, this was the one show that could pack my house full of 10 or more people in the living room with an understood "quiet room" rule. There's nothing else like it. A day in the life of Jack Bauer. 24 Hours. After tonight, it's 2 hours down, 2 more tomorrow, and then 5 straight months of weekly episodes. Gotta love the January premiere. Tune in if you haven't yet! It's never too late to catch on...

More on Mr. Frey

And the controversy rolls on... Only a day after James Frey's publisher, Doubleday (a division of Random house), was quick to defend him and his memoir, Random House today said they would offer refunds to readers who purchased the book directly from the publisher. Absurd! Ok, fine, let's say it parts of it were fabricated, that doesn't mean you get your money back! You didn't sign a little agreement that said I am reading this under the conditions that every word is true and if this guy is a Fraud even for a second, I want a refund-- even if the story is great. What's more, the article indicates that Random House told other readers who didn't buy directly from the publisher to try returning their books to the bookstore for a refund! Oh man, Borders and Barnes are going to love this! As a rebuttal to this and other published stories, Random House posted the following on their website:

January 11, 2006
Contrary to erroneous published reports, Random House, Inc. is not offering a special refund on A Million Little Pieces.
It has long been standard Random House Inc procedure to direct consumers who want a refund on any of the tens of thousands of books we publish back to their retail place of purchase, unless they purchased the book directly from us in which case we refund it. Yesterday we had 15 calls to our customer service line specific to A Million Little Pieces and fewer than that today.

Um, I don't get it. Are you or aren't you offering a refund? Either way, it's clear that some people are WAY overreacting to this. Fine, get upset and be disappointed about what's come out, but don't try and get your $14.95 back when just a minute ago this was your favorite book. People are silly. This is all so silly.

James Frey appeared on Larry King Live this evening to clear the air, but to nobody's surprise, he basically talked around in circles for an hour, never directly admitting "Ok, I wasn't actually in jail for 3 months" or facing up to other specific claims made by The Smoking Gun. Parts of the interview were awkward, namely the fact that yeah, Frey was being called out on fabricating parts of his book, albeit small parts, but it was uncomfortable nevertheless. All things considered, I think Frey handled himself well, particularly with a couple of the things Larry King posed to him. When they were discussing another author whose book had also come under fire, King said, "Oh but he also committed suicide... [awkward silence]... I'm not suggesting that you..." [trails off]. At certain moments I thought Frey wanted to jump across the table and grab him by the throat (I felt a bit of "the Fury" rising). Or at least stop answering the same questions over and over again, then yet again by butt-kissing callers. The best part was at the end of the hour when the show was supposed to be over and Queen of the World Oprah calls the line, cuts into Anderson Cooper 360, and goes live on the air to give her schpeel. You could almost see the Freys (James & his mother) singing Hallelujah in their heads. Oprah's here to save the day. She still loves the book, still thinks it's fabulous even if James didn't exactly drive up on a curb and hit a police officer or whatever else. Oprah gets the last word, and tonight she basically said This book still has my enthusiastic endorsement (read: if by some miracle you haven't heard of this book yet, go out and buy yourself a copy and read it because I said so).

To conclude, I'll say this: I finished My Friend Leonard (not "best" friend, as Larry King mistakenly repeated) today after 2 straight days of reading it whenever I had a free moment. Despite all this brouhaha, I still absolutely love(d) it and highly recommend it. Both A Million Little Pieces followed by My Friend Leonard stand as two of the best books I've ever read, and I only wish I hadn't read them yet so I could start over and be as moved and affected as I was the first time around. Now I can't wait for Frey's next work. Fiction or memoir or nonfiction or whatever he wants to call it.

Sweet Golly Goodness... again!

After reading Apple rumor pages for the past few months, I'd been anxiously awaiting this week to finally hear what Steve Jobs would announce at this week's MacWorld Conference in San Francisco.

After today's unveiling of the new Intel-driven Apples-- and the sleek 1" thin MacBook Pro, to be specific, I am super excited and cannot wait to get my hands on one of them (if only so I can stop being such a poser). MacBook Pro offers up to four times the speed of the PowerBook G4 in key performance benchmarks. The MacBook Pro will also be the first notebook to come with an Apple Remote to use with Front Row, an awesome program that basically converts your computer into a home theater/stereo/portfolio system. It's times like right now that patient consumers are rewarded!

'A Million Little Lies'...?

Only a day after I once again touted James Frey's A Million Little Pieces and its follow up My Friend Leonard, The Smoking Gun reported that Frey may have fabricated and/or "wildly embellished" parts of his story. Reaction has ranged from shock and outrage to shoulder shrugs and "who cares?" The New York Times wrote twice on this issue, first reporting the story, then letting us know that Frey's publisher, Doubleday, was part of the shoulder-shrugging camp (no surprise there).

If the allegations are true, I personally will be disappointed. Sure, I'm still plowing through My Friend Leonard at a remarkable pace, but part of the umph and power of the story is lost on me. Even today, I found myself naturally reacting to events in the book, but then questioning how true to life it actually was. For me, part of what made the book(s) so fantastic was the notion that Frey's life was so dramatic, his story so out-of-this-world that it was better than most fiction. I'm guessing this issue won't ever fully be resolved; Frey will likely defend himself and others will say "fiction or nonfiction, it's still a great book," but it's a shame that the all the hype (which I deemed worthy) and Oprah fanfare and bestseller list stuff will be tarnished over this debate.

Anyway, I'm sure this will all blow over soon. Probably Monday, in fact, when Oprah announces her next book club selection. Hope it's a goodie!

New resolution?

Sorry readers, we're only nine days into the new year and I'm already slacking on the blog. No great excuse, really, except that I haven't been spending much time on the computer. Maybe I should take the advice of one of my "anonymous" readers and adjust my new year's resolution...

What have I been doing instead, you ask?

-Reading: I'm really gettin' into books, you see. Well, I've always been a reader (albeit a slow one), but never one to plow through a stack of books on my nightstand and take time to read for pleasure. The people at work read a lot, too, so it's been a good influence. I just finished a re-read of To Kill a Mockingbird last night, and I really, really enjoyed it. I forgot what a fabulous character/narrator Scout Finch is. One of my literary favorites, in fact, right up there with Holden Caulfield. It's really a great feeling when you read a book that was writen almost 50 years ago in 2006 and realize how timeless and fresh it still is.

Prior to TKAM (as it was known in my 10th grade English class), I finally wrapped up The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which was lengthy, but also a real winner. Whether or not you're into comic books, Michael Chabon does a great job of developing his characters and really roping you into his story of Josef Kavalier and his cousin Sammy Clay, after Josef escapes Nazi-invaded Prague and begins his new 'American' life in Brooklyn. If you don't want to take my word for it, both TKAM and Kavalier & Clay were Pulitzer Prize winners, so someone more important than I am thinks they're worth a read or re-read, too!

Today I finally started My Friend Leonard, which I'd been eager to receive from bn.com. I'm only about 60 pages into it and I'm already hooked! So far it's as good (if not better) than A Million Little Pieces. Then again, it's probably because once you have the background story it doesn't take much for you to invest in the continuation of James Frey's story. This book, after all, essentially picks up exactly where A Million Little Pieces left off.

-Football: Between last week's memorable Rose Bowl and Saturday's awesome (but one we'll want to forget) Redskins win, it's been a great stretch for football. In case you missed the Rose Bowl, or rather, in case you haven't read Bill Simmons' Page 2 column on it, it's definitely worth a read, if not for the pop culture references he manages to sprinkle in, then for his ability to perfectly articulate just what you're thinking. Having the Redskins in the postseason has made it easier to get through the work week, and it's a pretty unbelievable to think that if they actually pull out a win on Saturday against the Seahawks (they'll probably need more than 120 offensive yards to do it...), they'll be in the NFC Championship. The thought of that almost seems wrong, so rather than even go that far I'll just say it's been a great season and we've fared better than any Skins fan could have imagined.

-Movies: In a nutshell, I loved "King Kong" (yes, first hour should have been condensed into 15 minutes, but when I'm paying $10 anyway I'm not really going to complain), could not get enough of the ape-on-dinosaur battles, and though I was only watching out of one of my eyes for the gross bug scenes, I loved those parts, too. (Does this mean I might actually like "Lord of the Rings"???)

At the other end of the movie spectrum, I also immensely enjoyed "Brokeback Mountain." Without trying to sound like a movie critic, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal (moreso Heath-- we all wish we could forget "A Knight's Tale," among others) really gave the performance of their lives. For a movie overshadowed by all the "gay cowboy" talk, this was ultimately a really well-written and beautifully-acted love story. It was touching, and I was moved. And yes, I cried, but then again it doesn't take much (my eyes may have watered for King Kong, I'm not sure).

-Television: The good and bad news is, new TV starts up again this week. As of right now, FOX has my attention, namely for the two day, 4-hour season premiere of 24 next Sunday and Monday. That just has trouble written all over it. On the heels of that, we get to start up a whole new season of entertainment and drama on American Idol on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, though, FOX may have lost me for the O.C. There may have been questions about it before, but with the return of Marisa's sister as the new bad girl on the block, it's clear they've jumped the shark on this one. Check please!

-Music: I've actually been in one of those "blah" moods lately, overwhelmed by the list of artists in my iPod, needing to take a break and possibly re-discover something or find something new to grab my attention. For now, my attempt at that is with the highly-acclaimed Antony & The Johnsons album from this year, I am a Bird Now. From what I can gather so far, this album seems like it will be a hit or miss with people, mainly because "he sings like a bluesy opera singer and switches timbre from masculine to feminine in the space of a breath. " I'm digging it so far, though, for its romantic but also mournful tone. Below I've posted two tracks from the album, one featuring guest Rufus Wainwright. Talk about some power vocalists on that one. Good stuff.

You are my Sister

What Can I Do? (with Rufus Wainwright)

So there's my wrap-up. As you can see I've been very busy. As always, thanks for understanding.

Happy New Year/Hail to the Redskins!

So... it's 2006. Weird. That means ten years ago was 1996. I feel old. Anyway, last night's celebration was fun (went to a party w/ Huan & Molly) considering I generally don't look forward to ringing in the new year, it being the most overhyped and overrated "holiday" there is. That said, if you have low expectations and just go to a party with fun people, you should be ok, as parties with fun people are usually fun anyway, regardless of it being Dec. 31.

Anywho, in other news, if Jan. 1 is any indication of how 2006 will go, things look pretty good. I watched 8 episodes of Sex and the City this morning with Molly, during which we paused for a much-needed McDonald's break. Then, I came home to watch the Redskins "run the table" and complete an improbable 5-game winning streak to end the regular season and launch them into the playoffs! Next, I get to enjoy some of my mom's homemade Pho for dinner. All of this was done in the comfort of my pajamas. No complaints here. My resolution for 2006, as of now, is to get my lazy butt back into shape and into my regular exercise routine, since the Holidays left me plump and sedentary (see above description and multiply by 100).

Cheers to all for a happy and healthy 2006!