approval matrix: january 31st.

in case you haven't discovered this website already, go there and have some presidential fun. i give it a highbrow brilliant rating on my approval matrix.

as i'm sure you all have heard (literally), patti lupone luPWNed an audience member who was taking pictures during gypsy. (highbrow despicable.) well, here's a little lowbrow brilliant remix:

cheer up, charlie hume.

sadly, there was no new GG this week. but in the past week that i haven't written (i've been quite a busy gal.) there have been THREE new episodes of LOST. the season premiere, consisting of two episodes, was a bit underwhelming. i felt that everything that happened my friends and i had predicted not only in the eight months we've been waiting for a new episode, but in last season's finale. a big womp womp to jj abrams, statler and waldorf style: what was that? it was pointless! exposition! were the writers LOST for the past eight months?! DOH HO HO.

but then came the third episode, which--while not up to LOST's usual best--was an improvement from the first two episodes of the season. we got about three super cool OMG moments, but aside from that nothing much happened. the only thing that made it extremely watchable was that it was a desmond centered plot, and desmond/penny are LOST's OTP. (totally loved that they named their baby charlie. let's all have a collective awww.) but the rest of the episode? i mean come on, since when do we care about charlotte? yeah, i sort of like farraday and his nerdlove crush is cute, but her dying isn't exactly a cliffhanger/shocking ending. however i do have an interesting theory about farraday's mom that the folks over at the lost diary seem to share with me: that she is ms. hawking. i guess we'll see pretty soon if our theory is correct.

and now for something completely different:

the far-reaching impact of blair waldorf, and other stories.

aretha franklin, clearly a fan of the greatest show of our time, channeled blair waldorf with her fabulous hat at the inauguration. A+ for being so fashion forward, aretha.

speaking of GG, last night's episode was rather disappointing:

realer than death by dorota:

• eric was not only the one most completely grossed out by lilly & rufus's sexcapades, he was also the only one who openly complained about it. plus 10.
  
• jack bass has an obvious coke addiction. plus 5.
• i'm fairly certain it's common knowledge that you can't have pets in freshman dorms. i guess it's implied that this dog will be dorota's permanent responsibility. plus 5.

faker than lilly's deus ex machina moment with her lawyer at the opera:

• the orchestra tuned up and then the opera didn't start for another 45 minutes. minus 5.
  
• since when do people get emailed and/or text messaged about their college acceptances or rejections?! minus 50.
• why the hell is the new teacher at least 5 years younger than the rest of the cast? minus 20.
• where did nate's money magically come back from? minus 10.

and for those of who still not converted to the church of OMFG, something completely different:

oh... and check this one out, too.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

approval matrix: january 14th.

currently, my activities have mirrored the approval matrix in NYmag, filled with highbrow brilliance and lowbrow despicability and everywhere in-between.

while i don't have a super cool chart, i'll qualify the events of my days along this matrix:

at the bottom of the lowbrow despicable is the current new york weather. what the hell, global warming?! currently it "feels like 5 degrees" in manhattan. if this kind of weather were an illegal offense (and it should be), it would be like the current weather is to manhattan as madoff is to every wealthy jew in south beach: taking us for all we're worth, and leaving us shivering.

at the top of the highbrow brilliance is sanaz ghajarrahimi's production of romeo and juliet:



the show, happening this weekend at the access theater, is a fascinating new exploration of the story mostly through movement. i'd recommend it to anyone looking for an hour and a half sexy, full, and vibrant version of the beloved tale of star-cross'd lovers.


next is the highbrow brilliant-yet-made-me-feel-despicable, in the form of the film synecdoche, new york.



i am a huge fan of charlie kaufman, jon brion, and philip seymour hoffman, so the prospect of the three working together harmoniously tickled me pink. the first half of the film, i felt like it was an eternal sunshine-y romp: a mix of genres, but mostly a comedy about some hypochondriac guy who might at some point actually die. but somewhere mid-movie the genre radically changed and i started to feel confused and lost and sad and alone. this was, i suppose, sort of the purpose of the film. and i suppose i felt exactly what the main character was feeling. one of my friends remarked as we left the theatre, "i just didn't see the point," and i guess that is kaufman's conclusion of the film in a nutshell. we strive for brilliance, beauty and originality in a world plagued with inauthenticity and ugliness... but at the same time in striving for authenticity we make ourselves different versions of ourselves, and therefore inauthentic. (not to mention that we miss out on the beauty of reality by trying to constantly recreate its gritty ugliness.) it's dizzying even trying to put it into words, but kaufman somehow manages to put it on the screen. i think his use of chronology and his exploration of the underbelly of human passion and loneliness are painfully and brilliantly unique and honest.

next up we have the highbrow despicable, in the form of the club bungalow 8.

fascinated by the reference made to said club in an episode of our beloved sex and the city, my lady friends and i ventured to the far west with an invitation to an exclusive party. (no, we didn't have a key, but i WISH we had needed one to get in!) warned of the scrutiny we would face upon trying to enter, and told how busy it would be, we arrived super early and super sultry. we were the first to arrive. i suppose we were lowbrow brilliant for that. however our host(esse)s, the fabulous malik so chic and cameron nico, were highbrow brilliant in their sasha fierce finest.

we did, however, get a photo taken of us by a hipster photoblogger, which has always been a life goal of mine. (note to self: check that off the list.)

after rocking out to the best dance music ever (re: beyoncé & britney) and paying WAY too much for drinks, we decided to head home for some ray's pizza (lowbrow brilliant.) & late night girl talk (both the dj and the activity... both highbrow brilliant.)

call me ishmael.

well... here i am. i've been a livejournal gal since freshman year of high school--with a small yet rather infamous hiatus--but now in my senior year of college i am dappling in this blogger universe.

i figure the blogs will have different purposes: livejournal will continue to be for rants, raves, & plugs for shows i'm currently in, and this will perhaps revert to what i initially intended with my livejournal: silly observations about the everyday, fun facts, my favorite discoveries from the internet, pop culture references, and the battle of the stuff.

ok, here goes.

for those of you obsessed with the greatest show of our time, you must read the weekly episode dish.

some highlights from this week, or as true as jack and chuck both knowing cures for the clap: 

• Blair, who acts kind of like an ass in this episode, still has some good lines — including, but not limited to: "Tuna fish? Why does he make it so hard for himself?" "Spare me those expressive eyebrows, I can't wait until you get Botox," and "It's so hard finding obedient minions." Plus 4.

• Chuck had éclairs reserved for him. Plus 2, because sometimes it's the small, high-calorie things.

• Dan compares his and Serena's situation to Flannery O'Conner, Toni Morrison, and the Russian aristocrats "before they all became hemophiliacs." Serena says it's just like Clueless and Dan's just like, "Aw," and kisses her, because after all, she is like nine levels hotter than him. Plus 3.
  

as fake as the bright pink peonies blair threw at chuck's feet:

• Gossip Girl blogs: "While I'm always a fan of star-crossed lovers, at least Romeo and Juliet didn't share DNA." Minus 30 because DAN AND SERENA DON'T SHARE DNA! STOP MANUFACTURING THIS CONTROVERSY!

• Eric would have told Little J. to chop off that idiotic little side braid with the bow. Meanwhile, Chris really wishes he'd had a gay bestie to do that to his rattail in middle school. Minus 2.

and for those of you not so GG-inclined (what the hell is wrong with you?!), here's something to brighten your day...

background info to help you fully enjoy/experience this video: some dude was on LSD. his friends recorded him talking about... nothing. then, they animated it. enjoy!