Sunday, November 8, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Moving Day!
http://myjeneration.wordpress.com/
I'd like to thank the Internet...
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Can't get Enough of JJ Abrams
Monday, May 4, 2009
Zooey is the Fabric of MY Life
Iron Chef Microwave
Friday, May 1, 2009
Re-mix-mix-mix
Texts for Last Night
Friend Request from Obama: Accepted
Obama also has a facebook page, youtube channel, myspace account, twitters, and probably others that I'm missing. I applaud the admin's efforts to stay connected and let people follow Obama the way we know how to; the language of social networking. We all speak it. Thanks to Obama for finally acknowledging that you should go to the people inside of the people having to come to you.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Bonnaroo + Daily Show = Love
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Music from Staten Island
Tweet-izzle
Afterlife and the City
Monday, April 27, 2009
Video killed the Radio Starlet
Friday, April 24, 2009
Advertising Backlash
I'm wearing it as a joke
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Fighter of the Night Man
Its a Mad Mad World
A favorite topic of mine is trying to understand the breadth and depth of the Google infiltration of our digital lives. As part of Mad magazine's 500th issue, they give their theories on what goes on behind the primary colors of the Google offices.
At the Palm of your Hand
Per my tech geek dad: "They're designed primarily for web browsing and email, so they have a very basic operating system, like XP or Linux, no CD drive (so you can't load software onto them except via download), a small (like 16 or 32 GB) solid state hard drive (like that used in an ipod Nano or shuffle), and a wireless network interface. You can't open a word document or spreadsheet, or anything like that, unless you're using something like Google Docs."
Doc has been researching buying one before he leaves for Fiji next month per the recommendation of lots of returning Peace Corps volunteers. They are very easy to travel with and if you run it with Linux, there is less of a chance of catching some ravaged computer virus from the South Pacific. They have a battery life of 5-6 hours, which is good if your going to be living a hut for 2 years. Most come with build in webcams so your friends and family back in the US can track the length of your dreadlocks over 2 years. Or to connect with an elementary school in the US to teach the youth about volunteering and the vastness of the world. The possibilities are endless!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Lost in the pages of Wired
Wired mag, in all its geeky glory, handed over the reins to JJ Abrams for their May issue. And yes, he is just as much of a mindf*ck in print as he is on TV as the creator of Lost. The issue is dedicated to mystery, puzzles, clues, theories, and more. Grab your magnifying glass and basset hound for this one. There is another layer to this editorial. Abrams has created a cerebral riddle hidden within the pages of the magazine. The prize is unclear, aside from true mastery of codes and patterns. Steven Bevacqua was the first to successful solve the riddle; NY Times walked through the tests that he conducted to discover this hidden website.
Everyone loves a makeover story
Thursday, March 26, 2009
It's Podcastic!
I starting looking at podcasts in iTunes to find some new music so that Justin doesn’t have to spoon-feed me all my playlists (although his lists are chocolaty delicious!). I discovered that bowtie-and-tweed NPR has taken some advice from Stacey and Clinton and has been putting out fresh-faced podcasts on pop culture and indie music. NPR’s series “All Songs Considered” has a podcast of live shows with great quality and some interviews mixed in. Yesterday I was in DC with the Ting Tings, listened to She & Him at the Newport Folk Festival during a rainstorm, and was at the Santa Barbara Bowl with Radiohead. All without leaving my cubicle! I explored the NPR podcast website a little more and found a pop culture feed with interviews and commentary on all things bohemian. I always put podcasts in the category of radio, with commentary introducing music. But this idea that I can get my news and gossip told to me while I settle into my desk every morning instead of having to scroll through website is awesome! Embrace the laziness! So after enlisting Justin’s help on some recommendations (there is no hope of me ever finding good music without his guidance) I have a preliminary list of podcasts I shuffle through each day
NPR All Songs Considered Live
NPR Pop Culture
USA Today: Pop Candy
Bands under the Radar
Indie Feed: Big Shed Audio Documentaries
PRI: The Sounds of Young America
Friday, February 6, 2009
Gossip Girl for the Soul
Call it girlie, but I will still make you think….
- Amy Winehouse’s name has started to pop up in the festival lineups for this summer. At first my heart skipped a beat at the chance to hear her seductress voice again but, alas, one must take her track record into consideration. Will she even show up? Will people come just to see her fail in the public spotlight again? I want so badly to believe that her months of gallivanting around the Bahamas topless are going to produce a renewed talent and a new album. I mean, when you think about it, what better therapy is there that returning to your natural state on the beach with ocean and hammocks and pineapples without the threat of social inebriation or conformist clothing? I’m still rooting for you Amy, the state of music needs that refreshingly timeless voice back.
- Elsa Fisher can’t catch a break. With the unfortunately upcoming release of her new movie Confessions of the Shopaholic in the midst of the Recession hurricane, she is being pegged as naïve, ignorant, and uncompassionate to the current fiscal situations of Americans to produce a film that satirizes the excessive spending habits of one NYC chick. But there is so much more to this situation that it doesn’t seem reasonable to boil down the current economic attitude of the country to the gig of one actress. First, perhaps this is actually the PERFECT time for this movie’s release. One prime function of movies is the sense of unreality and escapism that they allow the viewer to fall into. I know that's why I read books and watch movies; to try to feel what the story is giving. So when nobody can afford to buy shoes and purses and things, what is the harm in spend two hours in a dark room, sitting in royally velvet red overstuffed seats and remember what it was like when you could. Most mainstream film genres (romantic comedies in particular) do not claim to be real life, but to use their magic of cinematography to evolve real emotions in viewers. Second, I understand that when an actor signs up for these gigs, they are giving up their image to be the “face of” a project. And unfortunately Isla is feeling the blow of this fact. But we are rational, knowledgeable people and we understand the basics of film. There are hundreds of other people that make a film a reality. Why aren’t the critics looking to Jerry Bruckheimer? To Touchstone Pictures? To Disney? If you’re going to criticize, don’t pinpoint one scapegoat; look at the bigger picture (and everyone that created it). Third, Elsa has been trying to get her big break in US film for years, and much to her credit, she is on her way up. Her breakout roll in Wedding Crashers followed by her marriage to satirist gold Sasha Baron Cohen has picked up her public image as a comedienne. She needed a starring roll to push herself into the category with comedian goddesses like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Mindy Kaling. According to Wiki, she has co-written a scrip called “The Groupies” with Amy Poehler. Yes Please! So she got the call from household-name-making Disney to do this silly romcom and took the opportunity to make a solid name for herself. Her intentions did not lie in oblivion to the economic depression, but perhaps to hamper people’s frets of grey skies and empty streets of fifth ave or, hell, just to make people laugh.
- Its official, the love-em-or-hate-em ladies of Sex and the City have all signed on to do a sequel to the epic movie. I won’t hide the fact that I am a S&C fan, but even I have to raise an eyebrow at this move. I always thought the movie was to tie up lose ends and answer long standing questions left at the finale of the show. But really, WHAT is this going to be about? I ask this a current gen Yer. Then I had a thought…what if the audience is shifting. I’m thinking that a story about Samantha’s early retirement at 50 and the other ladies baby-making plans doesn’t quite grab my attention the way their quips of love conquest wins and loses did. But to others, it probably is. What are the thoughts and situations that independent, proven-worthy women work through after their years of gallivanting around the single life? So of course I’m going to go see it at its release in 2010, but will have to take a difference mindset in there with me. And for me, the excitement of a single 20-something’s life and love lies in the premier of He’s just not that into you tonight
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Saving the world one globetrotter at a time
The saying goes that you can only truly understand yourself when you see yourself through someone else’s eyes. The same stands true on a global level. The increase in generation Y’s interest in studying and working abroad is not only a great opportunity to see what life is like outside the subdivision fences but also a chance to shine some light on how the US appears in the global field. Last week, Jeffrey Bartholet and Daniel Stone wrote an article in Newsweek about the number of members of Obama’s administration that have lived and worked abroad, including our Commander-in-Chief himself, his roots deeply seeded in an international family tree.
I had the fortunate opportunity to study abroad in London in 2005. Along with plenty of time touring the pubs of Kensington and Chelsea, and poking around the city with a great group of people, I was able to travel and explore the UK, Ireland, and France. But perhaps due to my naivety to international culture and global relations (I was only 19 when I went, without much interest in politics or world news) I lacked the eye and attitude needed to truly embrace and learn from the experience of living abroad. I also clung to my fear of the uncertain when deciding where to study; choosing a country that spoke my language and who’s culture is in line with American. Now, 4 years later and 4 years wiser and 4 years more aware, I watch everyday for an opportunity to arise for me to live abroad again, with some changes. I think a more life-changing experience for me would be set in a culture far difference from what I am used to everyday. London gave me the confidence to know that I can live comfortably on the other side of the ocean from my family and friends, but to truly see the vast range of cultures and values around the world, something outside my comfort zone would be more beneficial.
I may not have a living abroad options in the near future but I will be able to live vicariously and learn through my friends and family that will have that opportunity. When Doc departs for his grand excursion in the Peace Corp, I will be able to go visit him in the South Pacific, see what work he is doing, and get the tour from an expat. My sister is planning her last two years of college around a semester studying sociology in Ghana. I have always said that my dream is to visit Africa, because I see their culture as the most extreme and most difficult to understand and I want so badly to feel what it feels to live so differently from the comforts of home. I plan on visiting her as well to learn from her chance to study culture in the field. Lucky girl!
It is unquestionably true that when you have an international awareness from first-hand experiences interacting with different people and cultures, you come to understand more thoroughly what differences are evident, what ideas are universal and which are cultural. You also have the opportunity from talking with other people, to see what the view of your own culture looks like from the eyes of an outside. And as you develop relationships with these new friends, you discover that their opinions are worth being compassionate towards, no longer veiled in ignorance. These values are exactly what Americans need to better interact in an increasingly global world. The fact that so many politicians that will be representing America in the global ring have these experiences under their belt and in their minds is a refreshing and progressive aspect to our political system. Hopefully the number of students that are open and able to study abroad will continue to increase so as a new generation fills the white house desks, our views will become more and more open to new ideas from around the world.