I've been tasked with finding diversions for a friend this week and as I was searching for a Molly Shannon clip from SNL, I came across this scene from Superstar, a movie I secretly adore.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Too cool
My sister has a way with words and an incredible job that allows her to travel to great places around the globe. She was recently in Finland and this is what she had to say about it. I wish my emails contained this much imagery.
Hello all - I have my first free, non-work day in helsinki tomoro, but I just wanted to share some highlights of this seriously cool place while they're fresh in my mind
1. reindeer. Tastes like steakums. (Tho served atop incredibly buttery yum mashed potatoes and with a delicious, if odd, sweet/bitter turnip and berry concoction)
2. sauna. I just returned from my first finnish sauna experience, completely sold on this bizarre tradition. I didn't know, but sauna's a finnish word. There's a part that's like the saunas we know - where you sit and sweat with strangers on a wooden bench while some kind of stove running electricity generates steam. Except here you do it naked (sexes strictly separated). It feels completely natural after about 5 seconds. You start to wonder why you'd ever consider clothes. Though, even at 100 degrees (celsius!), it's still not hot enough for some old broads, who sit sweating naked while wearing peaked wool hats. I'm told it's to protect their hairstyles, but I like to think they're just tough.
Then, there's a part that's fully finnish. You put on a bathing suit and head outside in the cold (abt 35 degrees fahrenheit). You pull back a flap on a wooden hut near a gorgeous pine-tree ringed lake. Smoke pours out. It's dark. You walk in and fumble around till you find a seat. Men and women are crowded together on log benches, amid soot-stained walls (you only see the soot, on you, when you get outside), sweating profusely and often chatting happily away. Someone takes a long - like six feet long - copper ladle, fills it with water from a built-in tap, then pours it on an enormous pile of hot stones in the corner. This makes it hotter. There's no electricity involved - I guess there must be fire somewhere ... But I don't know. It was too hot to think. My ears felt like they do when it's freezing out and you forget a hat. Like they were about to fall off. Several times, it felt too hot to breathe. It cools down after a while, after which someone gets up and pours more water on the stones.
You leave when you've had enough. Maybe after 3-5 min. You emerge from the hut. Smoke pours off your skin. Walk to the lake about 20 steps away. Water temp: just above freezing. Walk a short pier, then lower yourself slowly in on a wooden ladder. Don't jump - bad for the body. Similarly, don't get your head wet - bad for the brain. And it's so freaking cold, all you can think about anyway the second you get in is getting out. Limbs seize up. Bones hurt. One sauna veteran's goal: to stay in 13 seconds. I managed to swim from one wooden ladder to the next - like going from one side of mom and dad's kitchen table to the other - and they hailed me as a native (I didn't tell them I couldnt feel my feet). In winter, when the lakes and ocean are frozen over, they cut a hole in the ice and slip in. This, they say, can be dangerous - it's hard to swim if your body goes into shock. Some skip the swim altogether and just roll around in the snow.
After the cold, it's back to the hot. Then back to the cold. Then back to the hot. You're done when you're done. You shower and change, then get a cup of tea in the lodge and head home, feeling invigorated, exhausted, and very clean. Most finns do this every saturday. They start kids on it before they're a year old. Finnish parliament has saunas in the building. The central bank of finland owns about 20 across the country for staff and guests. Business and political deals are routinely struck in saunas. One finn said: we owe our independence to sauna!, only half kidding that the finns secured their freedom by working out a deal with sweaty, muddle-headed swedes and russians in the sauna.
Today's Song: Jos Sanot by Rajaton
Hello all - I have my first free, non-work day in helsinki tomoro, but I just wanted to share some highlights of this seriously cool place while they're fresh in my mind
1. reindeer. Tastes like steakums. (Tho served atop incredibly buttery yum mashed potatoes and with a delicious, if odd, sweet/bitter turnip and berry concoction)
2. sauna. I just returned from my first finnish sauna experience, completely sold on this bizarre tradition. I didn't know, but sauna's a finnish word. There's a part that's like the saunas we know - where you sit and sweat with strangers on a wooden bench while some kind of stove running electricity generates steam. Except here you do it naked (sexes strictly separated). It feels completely natural after about 5 seconds. You start to wonder why you'd ever consider clothes. Though, even at 100 degrees (celsius!), it's still not hot enough for some old broads, who sit sweating naked while wearing peaked wool hats. I'm told it's to protect their hairstyles, but I like to think they're just tough.
Then, there's a part that's fully finnish. You put on a bathing suit and head outside in the cold (abt 35 degrees fahrenheit). You pull back a flap on a wooden hut near a gorgeous pine-tree ringed lake. Smoke pours out. It's dark. You walk in and fumble around till you find a seat. Men and women are crowded together on log benches, amid soot-stained walls (you only see the soot, on you, when you get outside), sweating profusely and often chatting happily away. Someone takes a long - like six feet long - copper ladle, fills it with water from a built-in tap, then pours it on an enormous pile of hot stones in the corner. This makes it hotter. There's no electricity involved - I guess there must be fire somewhere ... But I don't know. It was too hot to think. My ears felt like they do when it's freezing out and you forget a hat. Like they were about to fall off. Several times, it felt too hot to breathe. It cools down after a while, after which someone gets up and pours more water on the stones.
You leave when you've had enough. Maybe after 3-5 min. You emerge from the hut. Smoke pours off your skin. Walk to the lake about 20 steps away. Water temp: just above freezing. Walk a short pier, then lower yourself slowly in on a wooden ladder. Don't jump - bad for the body. Similarly, don't get your head wet - bad for the brain. And it's so freaking cold, all you can think about anyway the second you get in is getting out. Limbs seize up. Bones hurt. One sauna veteran's goal: to stay in 13 seconds. I managed to swim from one wooden ladder to the next - like going from one side of mom and dad's kitchen table to the other - and they hailed me as a native (I didn't tell them I couldnt feel my feet). In winter, when the lakes and ocean are frozen over, they cut a hole in the ice and slip in. This, they say, can be dangerous - it's hard to swim if your body goes into shock. Some skip the swim altogether and just roll around in the snow.
After the cold, it's back to the hot. Then back to the cold. Then back to the hot. You're done when you're done. You shower and change, then get a cup of tea in the lodge and head home, feeling invigorated, exhausted, and very clean. Most finns do this every saturday. They start kids on it before they're a year old. Finnish parliament has saunas in the building. The central bank of finland owns about 20 across the country for staff and guests. Business and political deals are routinely struck in saunas. One finn said: we owe our independence to sauna!, only half kidding that the finns secured their freedom by working out a deal with sweaty, muddle-headed swedes and russians in the sauna.
Today's Song: Jos Sanot by Rajaton
Monday, April 14, 2008
Can't get you out of my head..
About a month ago, a good friend of mine went to NYC with her boyfriend and saw Spring Awakenings. A year ago, I listened to the show's soundtrack and wasn't immediately drawn to it, at least not in the way I was to Sweeney Todd when I first heard it. Thanks to my friend, I've been reintroduced and I can't stop listening. Here's a small taste:
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Should have seen the signs..
My friend Ben sent me this video about a year-and-a-half ago. It features the one and only Charlotte Church and an incoherent Amy Winehouse covering Michael Jackson's Beat It. It.is.hilarious. Charlotte is obviously pissed at how pissed Amy is and shoots daggers at her throughout the performance. Toward the end of the song, Charlotte has begun to prop Amy up and you can no longer hear any of Amy's singing.
An awesomely hilarious video and a song I would definitely buy on itunes if available.
An awesomely hilarious video and a song I would definitely buy on itunes if available.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Changes
Saturday morning I hosted an open house for potential roomates. Aside from the atrocious hangover I was nursing, it went well. I received upward of 15 responses and 7 confirmed they would be there on Saturday. Only 3 came to the apartment and I chose 1. Not terrible numbers when you think about it.
I spent a good amount of time e-stalking (thank you, facebook) the potentials and narrowed my field down to a top two. It was a little awkward interviewing the top two, asking questions to which I already knew the answers. My top choice arrived first and stayed for about 45 minutes, chatting with my roomate and my other friend who lives in the building. All around, I felt immediately comfortable and would have offered him the place on the spot but I had more people coming. Next a girl, an obvious nester, came with her boyfriend and proceeded to get argumentative with me in a discussion about American University, my former employer and her future alma mater. It was odd.
Right after she left, my second choice came with his boyfriend to see the place. They were incredibly nice, interesting, and seemed genuinely interested in the place. I felt genuinely attracted to my second choice and decided against living with him almost immediately for that reason.
I texted top choice later in the evening and he excitedly accepted. So, I've replaced my roomate, a task I thought would be impossible.
Today's song: Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra
I spent a good amount of time e-stalking (thank you, facebook) the potentials and narrowed my field down to a top two. It was a little awkward interviewing the top two, asking questions to which I already knew the answers. My top choice arrived first and stayed for about 45 minutes, chatting with my roomate and my other friend who lives in the building. All around, I felt immediately comfortable and would have offered him the place on the spot but I had more people coming. Next a girl, an obvious nester, came with her boyfriend and proceeded to get argumentative with me in a discussion about American University, my former employer and her future alma mater. It was odd.
Right after she left, my second choice came with his boyfriend to see the place. They were incredibly nice, interesting, and seemed genuinely interested in the place. I felt genuinely attracted to my second choice and decided against living with him almost immediately for that reason.
I texted top choice later in the evening and he excitedly accepted. So, I've replaced my roomate, a task I thought would be impossible.
Today's song: Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra
Monday, March 31, 2008
SWM in search of ..... anyone?!
My roomate is moving out in a couple of months so today I posted a Craigslist ad to fill her room. I'm getting an early start on the search so that I'll find the best replacement. I've only written one ad before and it ended horribly with a roomate who was creepy to say the least. I'm hoping that five years later, this search will end successfully and I'll have a roomate comparable to mine now.
As I was writing the ad this afternoon, I felt as though I was writing a personal ad. In essense that is exactly what it was. The sad part is that my past (and present) roomate experiences have been more successful than my relationships. Blargh.
I've already received a number of responses and most of them have great potential so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Today's song- Cresent City by Emmylou Harris
As I was writing the ad this afternoon, I felt as though I was writing a personal ad. In essense that is exactly what it was. The sad part is that my past (and present) roomate experiences have been more successful than my relationships. Blargh.
I've already received a number of responses and most of them have great potential so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Today's song- Cresent City by Emmylou Harris
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Do I have to call it pop now?
So looks like I'm from Wisconsin, with Philadelphia a close second. Strange.
The one disappointing thing is I've been spending the last four months in and out of Boston and its endearing accent hasn't rubbed off on me, not even a little bit!
The one disappointing thing is I've been spending the last four months in and out of Boston and its endearing accent hasn't rubbed off on me, not even a little bit!
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop." | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The Midland | |
| The South | |
| The Northeast | |
| North Central | |
| The West | |
| Boston | |
| What American accent do you have?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Cloudyiah!!
...And they're back! That crazy, campy cast of Trillions! Check 'em out here.
Or watch them below:
Find more videos like this on People's Improv Theater
Shout out to Jack and David!
Today's song: Say (All I Need) by One Republic
Or watch them below:
Find more videos like this on People's Improv Theater
Shout out to Jack and David!
Today's song: Say (All I Need) by One Republic
Sunday, March 16, 2008
just for you
My friend Alex looks exactly like this when she frowns. She frowns often but only to emphasize a point in a story or when she is speaking in her hilarious Russian accent. This frown always makes me smile. Thanks, Alex.
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