Old School R.E.M.

Moon River merging into Pretty Persuasion. Enjoy.

R.E.M. to the Hall of Fame

R.E.M., Van Halen, Patti Smith, the Ronettes and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame March 12 (my birthday!) during a ceremony at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. To be eligible for induction, this year's class had to release their first single no later than 1981.

Read more here.

Congrats, guys! You deserve it.

My Kind of Pet

Virtual Chubby Bunny.

Make sure you check out the rest of the artist's work, too. If you have a sick sense of humor, like I do, that is.

Playtex Sports Tampon Update!

(I know y'all were waiting for this. )
So... I got my free sample in the mail yesterday. Decent sized box, about 4 x 6. Open it up, there's another box inside. Open that one up, there's a flap with a $1.00 coupon and three tampons wrapped in light green plastic. So, what's so weird about that, you say?

Nothing...except the wrappers HAVE MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGES ON THEM:

• Ready to take on the world!
• Pursue your dreams...without fear.
• Shake it up 'cause I'm dependable. (???)
• Never give up!
• Keep going you super-fabulous chick!

That last one disturbs me a bit more than the others, because it's just so darn cheesy. The whole concept weirds me out, to tell you the truth.

I amuse myself by thinking that someone, somewhere, has this job description: "Inspirational message-writer for tampon wrappers." Wonder how much that pays?

OK, anyone have any suggestions for phrases we can send in to Playtex? 'Cause obviously they need a little help in the creativity department.

I Could Have Written This, I Think.

Prep star faces burnout

I like the quote from her HS coach:
"It used to be you'd finish up your club season then you would take June and July off. But now, people are doing their (club soccer team) tryouts in May. It's like you play high school for three months, and the other nine months you're playing club. There's no real break.

When the kids come out to play football, there's a football season. In baseball, there's spring ball and fall ball, but not to the same extent of soccer. . . . There's always another (club soccer) tournament somewhere in the country where someone is telling you that you need to be there seen by so and so. It's a competitive world out there. I think everyone's forgotten that it would be nice if they could just be kids."

How Ramen Noodles Saved Japan

OK, really it's a cartoon about how ramen noodles were invented. In Japanese. But still fun to watch. Kind of long, though.

This is a sort of tribute to the instant-ramen-noodle inventor, who died recently at the age of 96. Hard to argue that the things are bad for you, huh?

I'm so glad I'm not the only one...

...who feels like this. Other than my sister, I'd much rather "hang out" with guys any day. Much less drama, and way more fun.

Bet You Didn't See This One in 6th Grade

Effects of Drugs and Alcohol on Spider Webs.

(website wouldn't let me embed the video...click on the link above.)

Wisdom from my Mother In Law

...ok not directly from the MIL, but contained in one of the multiple emails she insists on sending everyone in her address book on a daily basis, including those "urban legend" ones about spiders in toilets, reverse ATM pins that call the cops, etc. I actually liked this one, though.

Another Top Whatever List

Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks for 2006, almost all of which you can download, stream, or see on YouTube from this site. I must admit I've heard of maybe 15 of them, but I plan on listening to the rest.

(I'm just happy to discover that Scritti Politti still exists and is making music!)

My #9 is #8 on this list.

From the Chapel Hill News:

This year was yet another sensational compilation of success for individuals, teams, schools and programs. Giving even a brief mention to everyone that won something would fill this page. With that proviso, here's a recap of (some of) the best and worst of the year about to end.

Something About Gabe.

This post pretty much sums up how I feel about Gabe Kapler, too. The "Mighty Quinn" music is a bit annoying, though.