NEW BLOG LOCATION!

this is huge people. thanks to some very nice and talented friends of mine, i have a new blog with its own fancy URL.

if you haven't already been redirected, go to skunkgal.com, and let me know what you think of the new hotness.

from now on, you'll get your sometimes-daily dose of all things me at skunkgal.com.

skunkgal.com!

WT rich rodriguez

lady, your hair is outrageous. that look might be OK in west virginia, but that shit don't fly in ann arbor. and for the love of god, go buy a northface fleece.

obama/clinton and classical music

the only thing relating these two topics is that i have two stories about both from public radio.

1. a "management guru" from london talks about the U.S. presidency.

But, dare I say it, you have a small problem. The founding fathers have required you to elect a President who has to be both head of state and prime minister, the chairman and the chief executive. They are very different roles.

i think it's clear that obama and clinton's strengths are very different, and each seem to fill one of these roles better than the other. i guess the question is, what do you think the role of the president is? a chairman? or a CEO?

2. NPR says to listen to hard-to-find classical music on youtube. I'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR MONTHS. for once, i'm ahead of the curve.

stuff asian people like

riffing off the "stuff white people like" site, a white friend and i thought, "wouldn't it be funny to make an asian site?"

but damnit, someone else did it already.

obviously the white people site went viral last week, and some crafty asians were quicker to the punch than i was. oh well. i'll offer up my own (and coop's) ideas here. maybe someone else can expand upon them.

asian girls like: white guys
asian girls like: black guys
asian boys like: asian girls
asian boys like: shakira
asian people like: betamax/laserdisc
asian people like: violin
asian people like: noncontact sports (tennis, golf)
asian people like: break dancing
asian people like: louis vuitton

i don't think i'm actually asian enough to properly write the asian people blog, but i can expound upon these if the demand is high enough.

when did i become a huge cliche?

what i did sunday:

1. bought a bike (how eco-friendly) at a local bike shop owned by two awesome gay guys.
2. went grocery shopping at whole foods
3. brought my own bags to whole foods
4. listened to npr podcasts and this american life while shopping at whole foods

i didn't recycle our microbrew beer bottles that day, but definitely did the week before.

michigan fan ... forever

from inside higher ed:

The Georgia Board of Regents voted Wednesday to lift a ban on placing college logos on coffins, clearing the way for fans of the state’s universities to hold on to a little bit of alma mater for eternity, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. A 1982 policy barred logos on coffins, alcohol containers, sex toys and other places deemed inappropriate, and the board only made a partial change. “You still can’t put a logo on a toilet seat, but you can now put one on a casket,” said John Millsaps, a board spokesman.

i wonder if michigan has any similar policies. and does a beer koozie count as an "alcohol container?" the sex toys joke is too easy.

this whole casket thing is a moot point for me anyway; i don't want to be buried in a casket. i want to be a lifegem, or if that's too freaky, then a green burial will do.

if you had to pick one blog ...

i would say, read this one: Stuff White People Like

sample:
#51 Living by the water
#46 The Sunday New York Times
#45 Asian Fusion Food
#44 Public Radio
#41 Indie Music
#39 Netflix
#37 Renovations
#36 Breakfast Places
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
#33 Marijuana
#29 80s Night
#24 Wine
#23 Microbreweries
#17 Hating their parents
#14 Having Black Friends
#11 Asian Girls

GREAT find, andy!

i guess sororities are good for something

like recruiting michigan quarterbacks?

i hope it's true.

sliding wieners

the oscar mayer wienermobile slid off the highway in rural PA. "slid" is a funny verb to use here.

oops. forgot to write about the writers' strike

so as you may have all heard, god has stopped punishing us all with reality tv: the writers' strike is over. i was so happy, i forgot to blog about it. i celebrate by serving you all with an announcement, two reviews, and some random thoughts.

1. i think i'm done w/ nip/tuck forever. i haven't decided if the show has gotten more tawdry (and worse) or if i've become more sophisticated, but i just can't take it anymore. it's just hard for me to care.

2. terminator: sarah connor chronicles. four episodes in, and i'm all about it. of course i like the show with the strong female character, but really, the acting is good and the writing can be good (or sort of bad, such as the talking to no one moment "i'm sorry andy"). the action is fine, but i tend to fast-forward through it (i have a lot of tv to watch). there are some plot holes here and there, but i'll forgive them in the end. i also enjoy the token black detective. can anyone else think of the show that does this? i know it exists.


3. eli stone: johnny lee miller—aka the lead in my favorite movie hackers, aka first husband of angelina jolie—is a corporate lawyer who lives in a swank san fran apartment, has a hot gf (but kind of old for him, no?), has a brain aneurysm and might be a prophet. it's talky and witty—just like how all the other tv has decided to be recently—and reminds me a little of ally mcbeal, but without all the neurosis and whiny biotches. two episodes deep, and i like it more than reaper and pushing daises, but probably not as much as gossip girl.


4. i can't believe some barack obama BS preempted jeopardy tonight.

5. NEW SHOW: new amsterdam: here's what you need to know to understand why i'm interested in it at all: actress from rome, cop show, lead detective happens to be immortal. nuff said.
if you do need more (or just need a laugh), read the official fox description. there's a copy-editing error—and just terrible writing, to boot.

why i hate season 5 of the wire so far

it's currently my facebook status, and a handful of people have asked me why. a message i've already crafted for someone (MILD SPOILERS):

1. this mcnulty/freeman making up a serial killer storyline is completely absurd. i didn't realize i was watching desperate housewives with gangsters.

2. not only is the storyline absurd, but it's taken over the show. i want more omar, snoop, chris, marlo, actual police work, etc. i'll even take more of the mayor, who, for the most part, i can't stand. i never would have said this for seasons 1-4, but way too much mcnulty

3. did i mention the newspaper scenes can be awful. obv i come from a closer perspective, but some of these characters are pretty flat. they are good or they are bad. none of the layers of the other characters. maybe i don't know enough about drug dealers or politicians or cops, but i'm pretty sure journalists are complex human beings too.

4. fake reporter plot? please. that wouldn't happen nowadays--at least not how it's happening here. maybe before jayson blair and stephen glass, but since then, all i've seen are editors who are hyper paranoid about fake sources. the erosion of journalism is a lot more subtle than that.

5. and why are their junior reporters so old? the stories they are chasing down are the ones they give to interns nowadays. these people are in their late 20s early 30s. that's editor material already.

my prediction; mcnulty and freeman go to jail, and bunk solves the rowhouse case doing real police work. if i'm correct, i'll hate this season even more. TOOOOO EASY.

michigan, way to screw it all up.

my great state has managed to really muck things up.

The clever people in Michigan who decided to get into a game of chicken with New Hampshire last fall over the timing of their Democratic primary should be having second thoughts this weekend.
Had Michigan Democrats not engaged in gamesmanship over the shape of the nomination calendar, they would be holding the premier contest on today's slate, by far the biggest and most influential of the events between Super Tuesday and next week's Potomac primaries, rather than the nonbinding event that was held Jan. 15.
Michigan Democrats long argued that the party needed a major industrial state playing an early and influential role in the nominating process. Instead, Michigan Democrats -- and those in Florida -- have left their party with a monumental problem: what to do about their delegations to the national convention in Denver in August.

what the post is basically saying is that this whole michigan/florida problem has the potential to completely destroy the democratic run—making it sort of like the auto industry (hiyo).

Other happy news from michigan:

speaking of the auto industry, ford will cut 8,000 jobs.

detroit still has a sweet mayor.

and terrelle pryor might now go to oregon.

depression and a cute dress

jesse sent me this really depressing story about how women need to settle for a mediocre husband, and soon!

then, immediately after being thoroughly disheartened, i read this new study, saying "people's spending judgment goes out the window when they're down, especially if they're a bit self-absorbed."

so i do have this whole blog about myself. i'm feeling bad about my prospects. i was already planning a trip to barney's co-op. DISASTER, HERE I COME.

maybe i can cuddle with a new pair of skinny jeans. no?

a moment of self reflection

why do i keep posting about skinny, underdressed women—and donuts? issssueees.

obama girl. i hate your life

she's like, a super hottie, and she loves obama. but she was too busy going to the super bowl to vote for him.


and herein lies the problem for obama—your constituency is way too attractive to vote.

seriously, who invented this donut?

a chocolate frosted donut with mini m&ms on top? BRILLIANT.

i wish i were in michigan

among the polish people, so i could eat one of these on super fat tuesday:


paczkis are so bad for you ...

channeling mariah

but this is terrible.



thanks maggie

vote for samuel berry

his platform

his view of hillary
"I would argue that a woman's role as nurturer and object of desire, as well as her less imposing stature, tend to confuse, or even vitiate, her authority."

in other news, people are absolutely horrible:
Driver drops bid to sue family of boy he killed


thanks matt and maggie for the heads up.

dirty scrabble

try unscrambling the first line.



an excellent find from andy.

proud to be a michigander

miss michigan won the miss america competition (yes, the one with the talent competition), and she is pretty hot.


but this woman is way too tan to be from michigan. it's january, people.

also, i am absolutely loving this kwame kilpatrick text message scandal. do plan on carrying on an affair with your chief of staff? don't send a shitton of text messages detailing every room where you've done the deed (such as room 311 at the residence inn in madison heights, of all places). i was looking for more hilarious transcripts, but this will have to do

KK: I'm at Laker game. The security doesn't believe I'm mayor. [not anymore!] Mike is pulling out all kind of shirt to prove it.
CB: And, did you miss me, sexually? [no, just your stunning intellect.]
KK: Hell yeah! You couldn't tell. I want some more. Don't sleep! [kwame's hungry ...]

thanks jesse, for the research help.