Saturday March 31 i want my (own) mtv

MEtRoday: 3048, 3039, 3002, 4080

Jocko has alerted me to a new video feed, called last.tv, that accesses your (or anyone else's) last.fm account. Let's start at the beginning: last.fm is a free service that, once you have established an account, tracks the songs played through your iTunes, tallying them by most played for week as well as keeping a rolling index, your top 10 artists, and top songs. You can look at other people's lists, and will be referred to others that have similar playlists. You can listen to theirs, become friends, etc. My account is futurejunkie if you want to see what I'm cranking. Unfortunately, it does not track what you play on your iPod once your iPod is plugged back in for recharging and updating; it only tracks what is currently being played on your computer.

Enter last.tv. From their website, you can enter anyone's last.fm name and it will pull youtube-published videos and display them, using the last.fm playlist as a guide. The best part about this is that you discover it's pulling rare live videos, remixes, etc. It's like having your own video channel playing in a window on your screen. Neat!

The possibilities I see are this: establish a last.fm account for your everyday shuffles and playlists. Also establish last.fm accounts for dedicated artists, making sure to only play them when you're tracking, therefore when you last.tv them, it's like having a mini video marathon of your faves. Results can be unpredictably interesting, for example, it just referenced band "The Orb" but showed the getting-high-from-the-orb scene from the Woody Allen movie Sleeper. Fun and random. Plus it's a good way to see those new videos you never get an opportunity to see anymore.

Friday March 30 blue-eyed soul

MEtRoday: 3280, 2074, 1232, 1268, 5018

Today's MEtRoday is dedicated to Patrick, who celebrated his blog's one-year anniversary:

The last training session before Sunday's race was tonight, and it was a meager 20 minutes. It was over so quickly that I'm not even going to give you the five-song RunList.

Then D19 with Todges. Our original plan was to meet at his fave Chinese restaurant and then go see The Lives of Others at E Street. Once we got together we were a little pressed for time to meet at 9:00 showtime. So we decided to just have the dinner instead. We ventured south of Chinatown, considered IndeBleu, the Chophouse, Jaleo and Austin Grille. We decided to get away from the tourist freaks and head up to Logan Tavern, where we're at least used to the freaks that patronize that establishment. I dared Todgie to duck into the Hard Rock for a burger but he wasn't having it. I really wanted to drag him into the ESPN Zone, but I was afraid to go in, too. Instead, we 'troed up to Dupont and on the escalator decided to try the places west of the Circle, instead of going straight to Logan Tavern. We talked about Uni but walked on by, peeked in Marrakesh Palace but opted for Mimi's across the street. Mimi's has singing waiters that were just way too loud, giving high kicks too close to the tables and we had a spotlight on us like we should have been the ones with the mic. So we bolted right out of there at an opportune moment while as our waiter was preoccupied with belting out some tune with the word "Liza" in it. Good grief. Our next bet was Sakana, but as we waited in their line we noticed that the line at Pizza Paradiso across the street had disappeared. A quick bolt across P and we're there. We didn't care, we'd even sit at the bar, which we ended up doing. I ordered the Margherita (tomato, basil mozzarella) and added sausage. Todges had the Quattro Formaggi (four cheese, parsley, garlic). We split both pizzas and finally had a delightful dinner.

Oh, we also tried Zaytinya too, making a complete walking circle in downtown, but they had a 1.5 hour wait.

Thursday March 29 blue-eyed soul

MEtRoday: none
Amtrak: can't remember the numbers

Today was my Philly commute, which takes me only slightly longer than commuting to Alexandria each morning. I was up in Philly for work, going for a press inspection at Pomco. Unlike radio stations in DC, Philly stations will actually play a wide variety of music. Some good, some bad, but it's still better than hearing the same Nickleback or Beyoncé song every 10 minutes. Here's a list of songs I heard:

The Promise, When In Rome
Fascinated, Company B
Last Dance, Donna Summer
Rich Girl, Hall and Oates
Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler
Baby I Love Your Way, Peter Frampton
Believe, Cher
Lights, Journey
Sussudio, Phil Collins
All I Wanna Do, Sheryl Crow
ABC, Jackson 5.

When I got home early that evening, I took a note from Anger Hangover and Helen Damnation and immediately fell out on the couch, where I stayed until it was time to move the horizontality to the bed.

Wednesday March 28 jacked up & busted

MEtRoday: 3107, 3150, 5142, 1059

Was that the best ANTM or what <insert interrobang> I think I'm going to have to download that episode just for Dionne's quotes. And to watch Natasha go all Russian Ann-Margaret sex kitten nasty on the phone? Hint for Natasha: Shampoo AND conditioner. I won't say who was eliminated in case y'all haven't seen the ep yet, but I will tell you that I correctly picked who would get cut; that means I have one extra point to assign at the beginning of next week's game.

Observation: "Fierce" was not said once. Correct me if I'm wrong.

cute, overloaded

Spotted on Cute Overload. First, watch this:

My fave part is about 2/3 into it, when the larger otter comes rotating back into the frame, all syncronized swimming-like, and rejoins with a gracious hand-offering and then tail-wagging all around. I also like how they have switched sides. Maybe the otters knows something that we don't. I mean, this seems like the life to have: floating around with a friend in a pool all day, napping and someone bringing the food? Think about it. All they need is a cosmo and some beats pumping out and they're set. After all, Club Tropicana drinks are free.

Tuesday March 27 start now

MEtRoday: 1238, 4042, 3093, 2044

Download an early Placemat for tomorrow's America's Next Top Model. If you don't know how to play, or drank too much during last week's game and can't remember, go here for a refresher.

America's Next Top Model airs Wednesday at 8E/7C on The CW. A recap of last week's episode can be found here, and all episodes can now be downloaded from iTunes.

Monday March 26 µsic

MEtRoday: 1014, 4008, 1200, 3251, 5051

A couple of weeks ago I made ref to the Hot Chip show at the 9:30 Club on April 21 (and I still have no takers). I also spoke about Junior Boys during that post, and I found out that JBoys are coming to Black Cat on April 13! Anyone want to go to that one? You don't have to say anything now, but if you're at the show, come up and say Hi. After some research I also found out that The Presets are coming to Sonar in Balmer, Hon on April 1. So if any vehicle-owners want to celebrate my Cherry Blossom 10-Miler by going to Balmer, Hon that night, I'll buy your ticket if you drive. How can you resist that? All three bands are fun electro-pop. Check 'em out.

The Presets—Sydney, Australia
official
myspace
wiki
downloads

Junior Boys—Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
official
myspace
wiki
downloads

Hot Chip—London, England
official
myspace
wiki
downloads

While at the iTunes Store, I caught this screenshot. I love the contrast between kidstar Andy Milonakis giving the pull-your-lips-raise-your-eyebrows-i'm-really-thirty-five-years-old schtick, Andy Richter giving the pull-your-lips-raise-your-eyebrows-I-never-should-have-left-Conan schtick and dour John Waters giving the I've-always-wanted-to-be-a-caretaker schtick. I wonder if the programming droids over at Apple humorously plan combos like this or whether it's totally random.

Sunday March 25 cancelled

MEtRoday: Thursday 1042, 2011, 2041, 4043; Friday 5093, 2071, 2073, 5059

Just got back from a weekend with the folks. I was scheduled to take the 10:55am Amtrak, but as I'm getting to Un'tion I find that my train is cancelled. Like it crashed or something and I should report to the Amtrak Customer Service First Aid Emergency Station. Of course, this means there is a long line at the ticket counter and when I finally make it through that Miss Agent tell me it's cancelled because of track work. Thanks, Amtrak. I ask when the next train going south is and she says 5:00 that afternoon. Since I can't get a signal inside Un'tion to call my Dad to see if this is okay, I go ahead and get the new ticket. "That'll be seven additional dollars, please" says Miss Agent. No. For a train that Amtrak itself cancelled? No. So with a cluck of her teeth she relents and issues me the ticket.

The reason that I was needing to be there by noon is this: While me and my older brother were going to stay and take care of my Mom, my Father and my oldest brother were going to drive to Waynesboro, VA to check out wheelchair-accessible vans. Since my Mom's ALS has progressed so severly, it has been difficult and is now nearly impossible to transfer her from the wheelchair into the car and back. My Dad had checked on renting a van but since they live in the middle of nowhere, that wasn't really an option.

So now that I wasn't coming down at noon to stay with my Mom I was hoping this wasn't going to fuck-up everyone's plans. It caused a little workaround but everything turned out in the end. My Father picked me up in the new $27,000 van, which the dealer was gracious enough to loan for a week so he could bring it home and try it out. That's pretty nice if you ask me. The rest of the weekend was spent eating, chatting, cooking, watching tv and helping out with my Mom. Pretty typical activities for a weekend trip home.

one week to go

I did not get a chance to run this weekend's 95-minute training session until tonight when I got back from my parents'. Since I didn't have a timer, I figured I'd use my iPod Shuffle to count for me. Using four minutes as the average pop tune track time, I'd run for 22 songs. I ran down to the Mall and did three laps around the open space (between 3rd & 14th) and then ran back up Cap Hill and did my loop around Lincoln Park which was just about perfect timing for the 22 songs. Total runtime: 93:26. If I am able to run my time I did during the Hurricane Relief Run this year, which was a 10-minute-mile, then I almost ran next Sunday's race tonight. This means I might be able to finish it without stopping, like I wanted!

This was the last long training session before the race. This week begins "The Taper", which means winding down and shortening race times, and giving your body lots of time to recover. The schedule this week:

Monday: 35 minutes
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 25 minutes
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 20 minutes (easy!)
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Cherry Blossom Run

Here's tonight's runlist. I'll let you guess the artists:

Wednesday March 21 numbers

MEtRoday: 5179, 2019, 3278, 5135, 4000, 1107, 1224

Ooo! The 4000 Orange Line car! And don't even get me started about today's date: 032107. Let's graph:

Tonight I ran for an hour continuously, for the first time ever. I had kind of cheated on the other lengthy training sessions, sometimes walking for five minutes, sometimes getting off the treadmill for water. But tonight's time was constant, for 5.5 miles, which means I should be able to complete the run in under two hours. I don't want to be that person that the police, race officials and ambulance is trailing behind, the last in the race. (Due to the race course being on main DC roads, bridges and parkways, the course can only stay open for 2.5 hours. After that, they have to open the roads.)

Then I met Todges for dinner and D18 at Rice. He brought me a gift, one of the porcelain rattles he's made. Sweet, huh? It's larger than I thought it would be [insert your own joke] and it has a nice tinkle when shaken [insert joke 2]. I'll try to get some pix of it online tomorrow, right now I'm going to grab the other Rattle and cozy up to her in bed. Zzzzzzz.

Yes, this means I did not play the ANTM Placemat this week! I guess I'll spend the $1.99 to buy it from iTunes tomorrow. Cuz on the previews Renee was all cryin-n-split so I don't know if I can wait for Sunday's re-broadcast.

no fear, no hate, no pain, no broken hearts

Joe says it better than I could. Click here to read about the hate that burns through this country and how to stop it. Tell your people (if you have them; I sure don't) in the big white domed building six blocks away from me.

Here's proof that it works, in Joe's subsequent post.

Tuesday March 20 three down, nine to go

MEtRoday: 3077, 3047, 3086, 1000

Ooo! The 1000 Orange Line car! Let's graph:

It's Tuesday (this is an early post) and you know what that means. Yes, it's time to give you a day or two to download your America's Next Top Model Party Placemat!

A quick rundown of what-to-do: download the Placemat PDF and print it out, preferably in color on a tabloid sheet, but you can shrink-to-fit on letter paper too. If you're inviting friends over you may want to print out some extras to make sure everyone has their own. Then, before the show, mark who you think will win the Challenge, who will get Eliminated, and if you want the model who reads the Tyra Mail to get a positive or negative point. Then, you have three points to distribute as you see fit to the remaining models. Go positive for your faves and negative for the bi-otches. Then read the "During The Show" rules to familiarize yourself with them, and watch the show because there are additional points to be had during the show. There are drinking rules too, if you really want to have fun at it. Post in the Comments how well you fared in line with Panel: did they eliminate the same one you chose? Or were they totally drinking the Tyra Kool-Aid and eliminated your fierce fave?

America's Next Top Model airs Wednesday at 8E/7C on The CW. A recap of last week's episode can be found here, and all episodes can now be downloaded from iTunes.

Monday March 19 got $99?

MEtRoday: 1104, 5054, 3258, 4043

I've just received my Smart USA Newsletter, Vol 5. These little cars (called the "fortwo" here—that's for two, not fort wo) are all over Europe, and when I came back from Munich last summer I did some research and found out they are going to be introduced in the U.S. in early 2008. There wasn't too much info on their U.S. site, but I did sign up for the newsletter.

Since the rollout is about a year away, they have announced that they are taking reservations for cars for only $99, which is applied to the purchase price and refundable at any time. Currently this is offer is only available for "Insiders" (free registration) but it will go public in a few weeks. Since their website has expanded in the last six months, you can now go online and check colors and trim levels.

Here's the rundown:

Smart Fortwo Pure—$12,000
Definitely the base model, complete with ugly wheels while air conditioning is an option. I don't think they'll be selling many of these without that a/c. But it does come standard with an electronic stability program, anti-lock brakes and four airbags.

Smart Fortwo Passion—$14,000
This is the standard one to buy: panorama roof (I read this as a non-movable glass roof), a/c, power windows, electric & heated side mirrors, AM/FM radio with CD. Better wheels, too.

Smart Fortwo Passion Cabrio—$17,000
This is the one I want, with fully retractable top. Also includes mp3-compatible 6-CD changer with upgraded sound system. Much better wheels.

All trim levels are available in crayon-colors: black, blue, white, red, silver & yellow. The accent Tridion Cell color, which is the reinforced safety cage, is available as black or silver. This part stems from the bottom of the doors, up the frame and from-the-back-to-the-middle-and-around-again to the windshield.

A full accessories list is not yet avail, but I'm sure it will be a full complement and you could easily drop 20G for the built-out Cabrio.

i swear to g_d

Today, on the shuttle leaving work and heading to the Metro, the woman sitting in the seat in front of me got a text on her phone and this is what it said:

I sure will tonight to get some ky jelly

Unfortunately, I could not see her response as she covered the phone while typing back.

Sunday March 18 o' my

MEtRoday: Friday 3106, 3216, 3014, 1197

Last night Eddy and his two roommates, Seattle and Jeff, threw a St. Patrick's Day party. I decided to downplay the wearing o' the green, going in gray but with green shoelaces on my tennis shoes. That way, I might get a pinch or two before they realized I was appropriately dressed. Since Goldy wasn't going out to her mother's, she gave me a ride, which I graciously accepted, as I was concerned about the safety of riding the bike back that late at night, and after partying too.

You can tell we've had too many trips to the keg once the "put your hair on my head like a wig" pics started getting taken. Mark's pics are posted here.

jj

Today I met up with Todges for D17 and the Jasper Jones exhibit at the National Gallery, which we had been trying to see for the last few weeks but it never worked out. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in the exhibit. My faves were the white and gray targets of the late 50s, Jubilee and of course the larger multi-panel pieces, like Diver, that incorporated his three signature elements of Red Yellow Blue, a device and his hand markings/pullings. I thought the exhibit did a good job at explaining the mechanical procedures of the paintings.

Next on the art agenda this spring is the Red exhibit at the Textile Museum, then the Colorfield Remix Project kicks off in April. And of course the Modernism exhibit at the Coco.

Thursday March 15 this was the future

MEtRoday: 5140, 5182, 3127, 5076

Today's CommuteRag, the Express, had a picture of Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye on the cover with this headline: This Was The Future. My first impression was one of regret, that we once had this hope that we would live in floating, glass or domed houses, but instead we want to bloat our houses to the property lines, nicknaming them after fast food burgers sandwiches.

The related article asks the question of Modernism, while subtley addressing Consumerism, "Does this object suit the way I live? Or does it merely correspond to the aestheticized way I might wish to? Then interrogate the object itself: Are you, pretty thing, nothing more than a trap?"

Modernism: Designing a New World 1914–1939 opens Saturday at the Corcoran, and runs through July 29. Tickets can be purchased here.

the smell of repetition really is on you

Hot Chip is coming to the 9:30 Club on Saturday April 21. It's an early show (doors @ 6:30) which kinda sux, but like, whatev. Wanna go?

One day last year I was sitting at the computer with a Hamilton burning a hole in me poah-kit, trying to decide whether to download the Junior Boys album or go see them that night at IOTA. I had never heard their music before so I opted for the download. Looking back, I should have opted for both because the album is great, and it would have been nice to see the two of them recreate that sound on stage, in an intimate setting like IOTA. I'm not going to make that mistake again. I mean, Hot Chip is Brit, while Junior Boys are merely Canadian.

Hot Chip's music can be downloaded here. Tickets for Hot Chip are avail at the 9:30 box office—with no "convenience charge"—or here.

Wednesday March 14 don't ask, don't tell (terrible military policy, but satisfactory for not revealing reality television elimination)

MEtRoday: 5035, 5181, 1266, 1265, 5057, 5056

If you didn't watch tonight's ANTM, then don't read any further! Spoilers will be released to tell who was eliminated. I hope everyone who played played well and had a fun time. It was the makeover episode, so of course they cried, we laughed. Tell me that is not a fun time! The Makeover Gallery with before & after shots can be viewed here.

For tonight's episode, I invited Goldy over to play the drinking version (which was quite fun), order pizza and hang out since it had been a while since we'd seen each other. The similarities between our choices for the game, and our outcomes were striking. At the start of the game we both picked Diana to be eliminated because she just wasn't modelicious enough. At the time for elimination, my points were reflecting that Cassandra would be sent home while Goldy's points were reflecting a bottom-level tie between Diana and Cassandra. And who is the in the bottom two? Diana and Cassandra! Cassandra was elminated, so I played the points right but not the elimination point pick, and Goldy had a dead heat in the tie. Not bad, huh? I think as the season progresses, things can only get better.

Goldy had the following suggestions for points awarded (pos/neg):

1) when girls pronounce words wrong
2) when girls comfort other crying girls
3) when one girl makes an obscene gesture at another girl

Thank you for the suggestions, but seriously, if we were busy marking points for these (let alone taking drink points) we'd never have our eyes on the television, now would we?

ANTM's web site has posted a trivia quiz. How well can you do? Take the quiz here.

the running regiment

Preping for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler takes a lot of training I've learned. Last night's training sessions was 40 minutes, tonight's was 70 and tomorrow's is another 40. Friday is a rest day, then Saturday is 60 minutes and Sunday is 80 minutes. It's a little over two weeks until the race. Which isn't really a race for me, I'll be happy completing it without stopping to walk. Here's tonight's shuffled running playlist. It wasn't the full 70, but I did have company coming over and I had to get prepared.

Tuesday March 13 getting fierce ghetto fabulous with axl rose tyra

MEtRoday: Monday xxxx, 2049, 3060, 2063; Tuesday 2033, 2006, 4072, 5038

It's time again, playas! We're one-fifth of the way through our 10-week ANTM marathon. If you're unfamiliar with the rules or how to host your own ANTMarathon Party, here's the basics: 1) Download the 'Placemat' pdf below (or here). 2) Invite lots of party guests! 3) Print a copy for each of your party members. 4) Follow the simple instructions on the Placemat (drinking rules are printed in red). 5) Enjoy the campy mind-numbing hour that follows. 6) Discuss in depth on your blog about Who Was Sent Home.

And this is Makeover Week, so you know there will be lots of tears flowing, both in the salon and on the phone back at the house afterwards. "My hair, my beautiful hair!" I can't wait.

Remember, the Placemat evolves weekly so be sure to check back on Wednesdays to download the latest version. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the Comments below. For example, if you're familiar with the show/game, you know that the Placemat Rules state there are points given to and/or taken from the contestants, determined by the actions of the Panel members. Some of the actions can be by any Panel member, while some are specific to Tyra or Miss J. If you have any specific actions to award/remove points to/from contestants by Panel members Nigel or Twiggy, let me know!

America's Next Top Model airs Wednesday at 8E/7C on The CW. A recap of last week's episode can be found here, and all episodes can now be downloaded from iTunes.

A special 'thanks' to the Pop Culture Junkie for the Fierce animated gif.

Sunday March 11 friday–sunday recap

MEtRoday: none
Amtrak Friday: 44234; Sunday: 82592

The content in this post is half Blackberry-on-the-road/half hurry-up-so-I-can-fall-asleep, so please forgive any typos/incoherent thoughts.

My train is at 8:30, so I meet Todges at Union $ (remember, ghetto popstar names for all the Metro stops) for D16. We have a couple rounds of drinks at Center Cafe and tell each other about our days. I guess this is what people do.

Too quickly, it's time to board, and I know that Ziska would never forgive me if I got on the train without visiting Burrito Brothers, so I grab one for the train (black beans and rice, cheese, guacamole, jalapenos, cilantro, hot sauce, onions).

It's a northbound train, on a Friday evening so of course it's crowded. I grab the first seat available that has somebody non-xtra large sitting in the window seat. It appears that this mousey looking playwrite guy (he's scribbling dialogue onto a sheet of scrap paper) is my best choice.
I devour my burrito and on my way to the trash receptacle, I notice there is an entire completely empty car behind me. I grab my ticket, gather up my things and I am moving.

I take the seat at the very end of the car (and the train) and I'm able to stretch out, grab my book (Twisted) and relax. This relaxation is short-lived, because in Balmer, hon, the car fills up. Oddly, a woman older than me runs on the train, deposits her bag, then runs out the door. She returns moments later with her elderly mother slowly in tow, and I see that she is eyeing the legroom that I have. I offer my seat(s) and she graciously accepts. So I move to the next row, with regular-sized legroom but with it being a train, and a short trip at that, it's no big deal. So there's my good karma for the day. Karma is not in the BlackBerry dictionary, it comes out "jarms". Hmm.

I arrive in Wilmington without further incident, a friendly cab ride later and I'm at Chez Franklin. Cocktails and designing w/ cowboy hats begins almost immediately, and I set down the rule for our charette: we're creating a logo for F's company and we each have four minutes to throw something together. This doesn't leave time for over-analyzation which can sometimes kill a design. So we take our four-minute turns with different approaches until our page is full. We've maybe done six each. Then, we printed two copies and each of us circled our top five favorites. The ones that we both ending up circling would be the ones we developed further, which turned out to be three directions. Literally, the sun is coming up now so we decide to postpone until the 'morrow. Good idea.

Saturday consists of bloody mary's, couch time and TV. Perfect. We watched Borat, Girls Will Be Girls, Soup, Best Week Ever and Bill Maher's show. Then it was time to get back to the logo, which went in an entirely different, yet successful, direction. After that we kicked out business cards, letterhead and #10. Mission: Accomplished. Franklin also started a blog so make sure he keeps up on it, and give him shit if he doesn't.

Sunday was a hurried wake-up for brunch and the train station. We went with Amy, a friend of Franklin's who lives upstairs in what I called the Mary Tyler Moore house. Their building has a similar look to Mary's building, few units and F lives above the rental office space, which I liken to Phyllis' apartment, and since Amy lives upstairs she's the Rhoda character. I was a guest star for the weekend.

Friday March 09 i'm going to be somebody

MEtRoday: 5072, 3122, b2018, 1263, 2032; Friday 5119, 3033, 5057, 4036

That's right, I'm going to be somebody. And I'm going to the place to be somebody: Wilmington, DE. No, I'm not going for Wilmington's 175th birthday, which was Wednesday. I'm going to visit this mofo, and who can speculate as to the trouble we might get into? I can. In no particular order: design, cocktails, blogging, eating, Simming and laughing.

I'm taking my blog files with me so I'll try to post from Franklin's machine. If there are problems I'll post updates Sunday night. Have fun this weekend!

Wednesday March 07 get your game on (i did)

MEtRoday: 4003, 2043, 1203

I have to graph this MEtRoday just because it looks so cute.

I am getting better at my own game (please do not snicker). Last week I did miserably, with Kathleen three points above median, but she ended up being the first eliminated from America's Next Top Model. Little do I know.

This week I did a little better. Going into Panel I had a three-way tie on who should be eliminated. My three-way tie was between Natasha, Renee and Samantha, each with one point below median. Renee received praise for her photoshoot so I knew she would not being going home. The judges seemed to have some reservation on the other two, and indeed, they were in the bottom two. They kept mail-order-bride Natasha, even though she sometimes has difficulty with the English language (she's Russian). So Samantha goes home back to her family in her little podunk town in Arkansas. BAHH!

In the Rules section of the Placemat, there are instances to award points for the actions of Miss J and Tyra. Robamos said today that he would like to reward Jay for his actions, but I'm trying to keep this game wholesome. (Correction: I've misunderstood Robamos' intentions. Please read Comments.) Anybody have any suggestions for actions/sayings that we could award points to contestants for Jay, Nigel and Twiggy? Points don't necessarily have to be awarded, they could be taken away, too. I'm looking for some idiosyncracies that these three have that would be fun to look for (and if you're playing the drinking version, to have a drink to).

How did you do with your game?

---

SIDEBAR: Remember Elyse Sewell from Cycle 1 of ANTM? I didn't either. But you might recall her after you see her face; her blog is here. Turns out you can be a loser and still go on to be a fabulous model in Hong Kong and roll around on a bed full of cash. Not to mention end up dating a rock star.

60 mins

Today's training session was Time: 60 minutes; Goal: Run the entire 60 minutes without a walking break. Yikes! This one was a little daunting. I think mostly it was a mental challenge, since I'd run for 45 minutes before without stopping, but that was outside where there's a little more eye and brain stimuli. But for an entire hour? That's as long as my work commute.

But after an episode-and-a-half of The Simpsons (link has sound) and some tunes thrown in at the end I was able to complete it without stopping, so I'm very proud of myself right now. 60 minutes, 5.35 miles, 931 calories. Tomorrow's session is only 35 minutes so that should seem relatively short after today's run.

Tuesday March 06 placemat & panel party

MEtRoday: Monday 2069, 4036, 3279, 1185; Tuesday 2069, 3100, 3211, 1247

With Melba's recommendations, I've made some revisions and alterations to the America's Next Top Model FunTime Placemat which can be downloaded here. I refined some of the Rules, hopefully making them more fun and easier to understand. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, that means you haven't been reading, and shame on you.

Here's the 411: Turn off that American Idol crap and start watching this America's Next Top Model crap. You actually get to laugh at people, instead of watching them warble through karaoke. Before you know it you'll be hooked. If you download the Placemat above and print it, it is a scorecard as well as a game for each week's episode.

The premise for each show is this: There are (now) 12 young ladies trying to out-model each other (sounds difficult, right?) for the coveted title of ANTM. At the beginning of the show is the Challenge, a minor competition that doesn't eliminate anybody, but does give the victor some spoils: a proper meal, time with a masseur, a visitor from the outside world. Then there is a photoshoot. At what is called "Panel", the girls get their photos picked apart by Tyra Banks and her cast of characters, and the worst one is sent home crying while the others are sent back to the house to get on each other's nerves even more than they already are. Fun, huh?

So the Placemat (download it already!) lets you play one of the elite Panel members, criticizing and praising these girls as the show progresses. The goal is to see if you can properly pick the one that will be eliminated. But like life, there is a little bit of chance thrown into the game to keep it fun and unpredictable. Also, with this week, I've added optional drinking game rules, similar to playing "Hi, Bob!" while watching the Bob Newhart Show, so you can invite some friends over and see how drunk you can get in 60 minutes. What are you waiting for?

America's Next Top Model airs Wednesday at 8E/7C on The CW. A recap of last week's episode can be found here, and all episodes can now be downloaded from iTunes.

Sunday March 04 death of a party

MEtRoday: none

Another night
and I thought, "Well, well."
Go to another party
and hang myself...
gently on the shelf.

I don't remember exactly when it was, maybe four years ago, but I remember it was a Thursday, it was definitely a Thursday. I was doing my semi-usual Thursday night routine: after gym class I'd go to Henry's, have a burger and a couple of drinks and read the new City Paper and MW, which had been published that day. I'd see the regulars there, whom I presumed also had routines on Thursdays.

Two of the regulars said "Hello" a couple of times, but it wasn't until I was sitting at a table next to them that a conversation began, and weeks later, a friendship. Enter Jeff (Judy) and Eddy (Ammiiee)—that first "e" is silent.

The three of us continued meeting on Thursday, back when you could spend a night at Henry's for a $20 tab, with the notion of "small check, big tip" which was totally fine by me. We'd have some guest stars join us every once in a while, but no one as regular as me and Judy and Ammiiee.

Enter Katie (Ryann). Two years ago, Katie had the (un)fortunate luck of being seated next to the three of us, and like me before, she was soon sucked into the group.

Favorites on the jukebox were Dream Academy's "Life In A Northern Town" and anything by Skeeter Davis. Jeff made us learn the words to "Harper Valley PTA" so we could sing along with him. To appease me, whomever was pushing the juke buttons would always throw in a HLTW or RIO to keep me smiling. We celebrated birthdays with wedding-style-icing-smears and had heart2heart's ("what happens at Joyluck stays at Joyluck")—we had dubbed this outing Joyluck after the book The Joyluck Club, which I think was about friends getting together and bonding or something, but nobody had read it so maybe we were way off base but regardless, the name stuck. It was time for us to get together in an intimate setting, although quite public, and talk about anything and everything without judgment.

Fast forward 2007. Katie is now working evening hours. Our checks are two, if not three, times as expensive as they once were so I'm there probably every-other-week. I'm taking another gym class on Thursday evenings, which means I'm not getting there until 9. I'm tired of moving slow at work on Fridays.

Then, in an effort to coordinate everybody together this past Thursday I get this txt msg brkup from Judy, the more-or-less ringleader:

yeah I think JL should chill.
Not allot of buy in... I hate to tells yous this but it is D E A D. Officially 5:26pm on this day of our lord 3/1/07 DEAD!

And I'm fine with this. A much needed break I believe, nothing like this lasts forever. Not Ninfa's or La Lomita on Sunday evenings, nor Jimmy T's on Thursday mornings. Now we'll have to just bring the party home, and get together at each other's joints every couple of weeks. And that's fine, too. Can we just make it a weekend night?

these things

While a third of a year is just as relevant as one fourth of a year, in the geometric sense, today I think of Hum. Previously I would grab a cam and take a shot of the Twins™ doing something cute whenever it happened; I have to remember that even though I only have one of them now, it's still important to document their her life. So here's Rattle tonight, lounging on the couch.

Saturday March 03 this disgusts me

MEtRoday: none

I try not to get all politicized here on this little internet blip, but this one I have to share. Here's FoxNewsdarling Ann Coulter at her zenith, giving it to the conservatives just as they like it: white, hot and bigoted. Pretty soon she'll being using the other 6-letter-word to describe Barack Obama, and Republicans all over this great land will cheer. Again. Also shared with the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference yesterday, discussing black Republicans, she declared, "Our blacks are better than their blacks."

Mercy.

conditioning

The 10-mile run is less than a month away. The training up until now has been pretty simple, some training sessions that I could have done before even signing up. For instance, Time: 27 minutes; Walk 1 minute, run 8 minutes (3 times). Since I signed up for the beginner training course, these initial sessions are aimed at getting your cardio level up and starting to condition your legs to running. I could do these without an effort, so sometimes I would skip them and do spinning or some other cardio. But now it's getting to the point where I really need to stay on track and do what my weekly training email says I should do.

Today's run is Time: 56 minutes; Walk 1 minute, run 27 minutes (2 times). Since the weather was almost Spring-like* I decided to run outside, since this was about my normal route's time. My actual run time was 52:10. Here's the bop playlist from the Shuffle:

*Just because the temperature is above 50° for the first time in months does not mean you are allowed to wear shorts, t-shirts or flip-flops. You may, however, remove your jacket if you are throwing a Frisbee or tossing a football.

Friday March 02 hot pot mussels

MEtRoday: 1293, 3095, 3221, 3239, 1129, 5101

There was an opening at Meat Market Gallery tonight and since Todges' colleague and instructor was one of two featured artists, we went. I was excited to go, to see a glimpse of T's art world, to meet some of his friends and contemporaries.

Robert Devers' exhibit was named <Spirit of Place. There were three main pieces. The first was a 9-square tiled cube, which freely rotated on its flat bottom face, encouraging patrons to give it a whirl. The second piece also echoed this 9-square grid, but five of these square grids were assembled to form a plus sign, or cross. Then the third (and most successful) was a huge 49-square grid of larger tiles, placed on yet elevated from the floor. I guess I should explain the geometry of how these tiles are painted. In each 9-square group, the "plus" tiles, meaning the center vertical row and the center horizontal row, basically the five tiles that are not corners, are painted using alternating colors in a radial pattern from the center. Almost like a brilliant multi-colored bullseye painted into the square. Then, the corner pieces are switched out with yet another 9-square painting, using different colors. When switched, the circular forms still retain their rotation, yet the orthagonal lines become clear. It's quite striking, especially the floor piece, which had their forms broken even more since there were more tiles to switch around. I'm sure this isn't making sense and I'm delivering a technical explanation to something you have to see to understand and experience. So go and see it. The exhibit is open until March 25.