The Opening Ceremonies

Well, hello there, wonderful people who we hope read our blog. I know yesterday it was mentioned that we would be talking about The Hunger Games today, but we made the sound decision not to...

We are going to talk about the first book... next week. This way, if you want, you have more than enough time to read them and join in on the discussion. Next Thursday, we're going to dive a little deeper into The Hunger Games and it's characters, talk about what we want to see in the movie version and also give you some pictures of who we see playing each role in the movie.

We are looking forward to it!

Tomorrow, we're going to help Sass pick out an outfit for a wedding, so come along and bring your opinions.

Baby, You Can Drive My Car...

Sass: Remember that MTV show Pimp My Ride? I wonder if they ever pimped a Mazda Protege, because I think my ride could use a little pimping.

I mean, it’s a fine ride, easy on the upkeep and gets me to where I need to go, but...it’s beige. Actually, I believe the official color is something like “Sand Mica” but really, that’s just fancy talk for “sort of shiny beige.”


We’ve had this car since 2002 and have done a fairly decent job of taking care of it. Despite a few dents, knicks and crappy rims, it hasn’t been in any major collisions with other cars or grocery store shopping carts.


Inside, however, is another story.

We have a toddler, so our car tends to not be, well...clean. I debated cleaning it up to take pictures for this blog post, but ended up being too lazy, deciding that it would just end up messy anyway, so why bother. I know, my ability to rationalize is truly a gift.


Anyway, The backseat is stuffed with all sorts of stuff, the biggest being my kid’s carseat. Looking at that picture I see a book, some papers, pens, blocks all on the seat. What you can’t see if a huge red stain that is in fact, melted crayon. If anybody has a supersecret tip for getting melted crayon out of car upholstery, I’m all ears!


There’s also a large picnic blanket, mini basketball, a stuffed turtle and apparently the top of a bowl of nuts. No clue where the actual nuts are. Let’s just assume they’ve been eaten.


The front seats are a bit better:

CDs get shoved into the side of the door along with maps, tissues and the occasional snack. I really do try to clean out the car every week or so, but it feel fruitless when it easily returns to this state within minutes of cleaning.


We are a one-car family, with our other modes of transportation being...our bikes! I strap a kid seat onto mine and haul the kiddo to run errands, take him to school or just putter around town. Mr. Sass takes his bike to work everyday.

I have to say...My bike is all sorts of sassy...and I love it.


Snark: I love your bike, too! I have a red cruiser that I need to get out of my parent’s garage. I’m just not sure where I would put it at my apartment. There is barely any room.


Anywho, that is a boring story for another day. Today, we’re talking cars. Here is a pic of my beauty:

Oh, now, I know y’all are jealous of 2008 Pontiac G6, but that’s okay. Everyone feels that way. (Not really)


Seriously, though, I like my car. Before the G6, I had a car that BUSTED on me at 60k miles. I think it was a lemon, and it was sour as hell if you know what I’m saying. My whole last year of college, I was dependent on other people to drive me places. Thank goodness my sister lived practically next door, and I never felt bad about asking to take her car. That’s what sisters are for, right?

So, when it came time (read: when I was actually able) to buy a car, I wanted something new and with a WARRANTY. If something broke, I wanted a guarantee that it would get fixed. I got a good deal on it too. I mean, it doesn’t hurt that I work at the dealership...


But, what do I do with a brand new car? I proceed to scratch it, dent it, back into things, etc. etc. I never hit anything in my old car, but with a new one, I’m like Monster Trucking it through Target’s parking lot. It’s quite sad.

That picture is proof -- my pathetic side mirror. What’s REALLY pathetic about it is, that is not the original mirror. No, I knocked the original mirror right off, backing out of the driveway. I hit the garbage can. In my defense, I was looking at traffic not the driveway, and the garbage men didn’t put it back in the right spot. They couldn’t wheel the damn thing two feet over! Sorry. What was I saying?  
Well, after paying $120 or so to get it replaced, I then hit it on the side of the garage when I was backing out. I broke a piece of the mirror off as you can tell from the picture.

Then, I have a picture of the inside of my car. It’s not too messy right now. There is a cardigan and a book in the passenger seat, some bracelets on the shifter, my iPod connector. My iPod isn't even in the car, though. I keep it inside becuase I have XM Radio and that's all I listen to practically. There is also some trash and receipts and such, but I don’t think that’s too obvious in the photo.

Well, that’s it for this Wednesday. Join us tomorrow when we shut off the television and crack open a book. It’s time for The Hunger Games.

For Whom the Bell Pepper Tolls

When Snark sent me this recipe, it couldn’t have come at a better time. I had leftover roasted chicken and some peppers, and needed something interesting and tasty to do with them. Okay, I might have said, “Hey, Snark. I have leftover roasted chicken and peppers. Make sure your recipe to me this week uses those. kthxbai.”


So, she sent me this recipe for stuffed peppers. I’m 99% certain she just google “chicken, peppers” but either way, I’m more than happy with the results.


I’ll be honest - I used the recipe as a blueprint, and kind of built it up on my own. I had one leftover pepper, but needed to get more and headed over to the local food co-op with the kiddo. We left with 5 different colored peppers.

I also put up some brown rice, even though the recipe didn’t call for it. Whenever I’ve eaten a stuffed vegetable (pepper, cabbage, etc...) there is always rice involved, so I decided to include some here. While the rice was cooking I worked on the rest of the filling. Now, this recipe says to chop up onion and garlic and stuff it raw into the pepper. That didn’t really sit well with me, so I ended up sauteing it a bit first. Also, when I sliced the tops off the peppers, I chopped them up and added it to the pan - no sense in wasting perfectly good pepper!

I added some tomato sauce and shredded chicken to the onion/garlic/pepper mixture and then went to get my paprika. That’s when I realized I was all out. I’m really bad at ensuring I have all my ingredients before settling in to cook. So, I improvised and tossed in some chili powder. By that time, the rice was done so I added that to the man and mixed it all up. I stuffed three different peppers and then sprinkled some cheese over them (instead of mixing it all throughout) and then popped them into the oven to bake.


They came out beautifully.

And, what’s more...they were super tasty as well. It was just the kiddo and me for dinner, and he gave it a raving review (despite 15 minutes later claiming that the onion in the dish caused his back to hurt. We later discovered that it was actually caused by the rug burn his uncle gave him during an exciting game of “dino-ball.” yeah. I still go by his earlier review of “Yum!”).


So, even though I totally bastardized the actual recipe, I’m okay with it, because the stuffed peppers I ended up making we’re pretty damn delicious. 


*Blog title "borrowed" from Snark.

The Evolving Hair Do Known as Ani DiFranco

Snark: Well, y'all, it's the beginning of the week again, and it's my turn to have a nice Music Monday. You know it's my turn because I am super super late with posting. 

Um... my bad. 

So, this week, it was Sass's turn to share music with me. If y'all haven't guessed by now, she's into some hippie dippie stuff, so I'm always curious about who she's going to rec next. This week the artist she had me listen to is Ani DiFranco. 

Now, I'm going to admit something. I, of course, have heard of Ani DiFranco, but I've never listened to any of her music. I felt like I should have listened to her before, like it was something I should have done already, so I was happy to give her a listen.  

I don't know what I expected with Ani DiFranco, but she's a lot happier than I thought she'd be. Her songs are upbeat, and in every video, she was smiling and seemed very gracious. Her personality shines through her work. I don't think I would be apt to buying her collection of work, but if it came on the car, I wouldn't mind turning it up and rolling the windows down.

This is one of the YouTube videos she sent me. I enjoy the song and the video is super cute. Seeing all the smiles behind the scene, makes me smile.




I found the second YouTube video on my own. I like this song. I LOVE the message. I also adore the pictures which give you the evolving hair styles of Ani DiFranco. She's DEFINITELY had some do's... and don'ts.


What do you think of Ani DiFranco? We'd love to know.

Any Which Way You Paint It...

Well, today is Friday, so that means we’re going to talk something fashion. We have been posting pics of celebrities and judging, but today, we shall judge ourselves...


Hmm, yeah, I don’t think that works, but we will be talking something that every female has (a lot of men too) and that’s nail polish. Also, obviously, I've been ungrounded for not participating yesterday. lol.

Snark: I love nail polish. I have it it on my fingernails and toenails pretty much all the time. I enjoy changing it for a fresh, easy new look. I like buying nail polish at Ulta when it is buy 2 get 1 free. That way three bottles of OPI is only $16. Yikes, I know, still expensive, but nail polish lasts a while, so we can look at it as an investment. Right?

(That’s what I’m going with)

Here are a few of my favorites:

(I like how my name is in this picture twice)

We actually started talking about nail polish because I was super excited about the nail polish that I blended the other day. I was reading in some magazine how a brownish-purple would be the new fall basic color. Well, I had an old tan I wasn’t using because I bought pretty much the exact color recently without realizing I had that color already and I have a dark purple. I thought to myself. I can make that color! So, I did. All it took was a few drops of purple into the tan.

Then, I took a picture of my nails with the color I made on them. Don’t judge my chipped polish. I painted them about a week ago.

Sass: That is a pix of the kiddo’s toes. I took one of mine, but you can see the totally amateur hack job I did...polish everywhere! But...when I go to nail salons, they *always* comment on how super teeny tiny my toes/toe nails are. It’s enough to give a girl a complex. I did, however - go with a lovely shade of metallic silver. 

Please note the immense collection of “Wet & Wild” polish that I own. I pretty much won’t pay more than $1.99 for a bottle, and am pretty sure that most of those are at least 2 years old...so, yeah.

As you can tell, we had some fun with photobucket today, and we jazzed up our pictures.

Tell us, what’s your go to color?

I'm a Gleek.

I’ve been waiting all summer for the return of this show and this past Tuesday couldn’t come soon enough. I’m not under the impression that Glee is some heady, thought provoking piece of television. In fact, I watch it for the exact opposite reason: It’s an hour of fluffy fun, speckled with guilty pleasure sing-a-longs.


I may have actually spent most of the summer listening to my Glee soundtrack so often, that my kid can now sing the “Da Da Song” (aka Don’t Stop Believing) by heart. Just saying.


The start to the show, where student-blogger Jacob goes around harassing the Glee Club members and Mr. Schuester was a great way to lead into the season. They took actual criticism of the show (Matthew Morrison’s blatant white guy rapping, overuse of the auto-tune feature and showtunes as well as others) and played up the jokes, while giving the audience a laugh. It could have come off as too self-referential, but they didn’t dwell on it - just allowed us to laugh along with them and then moved on.


Thankfully, the show did not compromise any of my favorite characters, including coach Sue Sylvester, played by the incomparable Jane Lynch. With gems like “First of all, female football coach, like a male nurse, sin against nature.” how can you not love her? Her witty barbs and spot on comic timing are part of the reason I keep coming back to the show.


Coach Sylvester doesn’t disappoint, ripping into post-partum cheerleader Quin and Santana with the new boobs. Also, her revenge tactic of serving the new football coach poop cookies had me laughing like a twelve year old boy. Apparently I’m a sucker for potty humor.





I enjoyed the music for the most part this episode, tapping my toes along to the easy sounds of the Glee Club members doing Jay-Z’s New York State of Mind and the Bieberlicious new kid’s rendition of Travis McCoy’s Billionaire.





I could have done without the Broadway tune Rachel belts out at the end or the audition song Sunshyne goes with, but that’s just personal taste and nothing against the actresses that play either of these ladies, because when they broke out into Lady Gaga’s Telephone in the girl’s bathroom? I may have almost peed myself. I kind of have a not so secret guilty obsession with the Gags, and these ladies did a fab job of representing.





I know I didn’t really talk much about plot, but for me...it’s about the snark and the song and I can only hope the rest of the season plays to those strengths!


Oh, you may have been wondering where the heck Snark is today. She promised me she was going to watch Glee so we could talk about together...and then she apparently had better things to do and didn't get around to it. So...she's in time out and *might* be back tomorrow. We'll see...

It's In the Eye of the Beholder...

Sass: The other day I had my yearly eye check up where I learned that (at 30) my eyesight is *still* deteriorating, my retinas are thinning and on top of all that, I got the “present” of some astigmatism in my left eye, which resulted in a new prescription and contacts. Of course, I came home and bitched about all of this to Snark. We then commiserated about our crappy eyes together.

I first got glasses when I was in ninth grade. There’s really no better way to say “Hello High School!” then with a brand spanking new set of shiny braces and goofy glasses. When I look back at the almost John Lennon style of glasses that I wore, I cringe and thank heavens that my sense of style has slightly improved, (despite my vision having only worsened).
Normally, I wear contacts, finding them to be a better fit for my daily life. My vision is really sucky - I can’t see more than a foot in front of my face without it being incredibly blurry. But, when I wear glasses, I totally rock them. I’ve got a hip pair of midnight blue Calvin Klein glasses with a chartreuse lining.  

If they didn’t make my depth perception all wonky, I’d wear them more often and fulfill the sexy librarian stereotype.
Ah well...sorry nerds.

(I have to step in and say I love that you put your glasses on top of HP7 and that I'm not ashamed that I knew that book without it's cover)

Oh, and since it’s always sunny in Philadelphia (not that I live there or anything. No, really...I don’t), I usually rock my (non-prescription) sunglasses as well. These puppies were five bucks at the local “cheap crap” store, but have been shading my peepers for almost a year now.

Snark: Woohoo for bad eyesight... right?

Well, I got glasses a little bit earlier than Sass. I think I was in fourth grade when I got my first pair. Remember how the nurse would come by and check your vision and hearing? Well, she sent a note home to my mother, informing her that I needed to go to the eye doctor.  


I was amazed by what I had been missing. Traffic lights weren’t fuzzy colors and people had freckles. I remember wearing them and annoying my mom at the grocery store by all the little things I could read from all the way across the store!


Well, even though glasses were amazing, there was a problem. I hated them. Actually, I hated every pair of glasses I had up until high school, I believe. They were big and dorky, and I was angry that I had to wear them. I remember in fifth grade (new school), the nurse repeatedly asked me if I had gotten new glasses (since I lost the ones the previous year). She would keep coming by, but being me, I hadn’t told my mom I’d lost my previous pair. Until high school, I think I “lost” four pairs of glasses.  


Needless to say, I ended up with a new, nerdier pair. In Middle School, even though I KNEW I could see better with them, I wouldn’t wear them. I would copy off friend’s papers when taking notes, or I would ask to copy right off the projector. I took Discoveries as an elective in middle school, and I had the same teacher all three years. She would ask me daily where my glasses were. I always had an excuse.

Looking back, I can’t even imagine how I got by because my eye sight is about the same and without my glasses or contacts, I’m hopeless.


Well, in high school, I realized that my teachers probably weren't going to let me stand next to the overhead to take notes, so I took to wearing my glasses in the classroom. I would then take them OFF to walk through the hallways to my next class. It was pretty ridiculous.

I also got contacts about sophomore year in high school, but by that time, I was a full-fledged glasses wearer. I wore them pretty much all the time all the way through college. They fit me. I never felt dorky for wearing them because I had frames I liked.

These are my newest frames:

 

They're maroonish with gold arms. I mostly wear these on days when my eyes are tired. I wear my contacts pretty much every day these days, but I like to take them out and slip on my glasses when I'm at home. I went to cheap Vision One for my last frames purchase, so I got two pair for like sixty bucks.

These are my other glasses, but they feel crooked on my face, so I don’t wear them that often. And, yes, that is cheetaesque print on the arms. Don't make fun.

Ooh, then we have sunglasses. I love these. I got them at a vintage store in Austin for about $15 which is pretty much the max I’ll spend on sunglasses. I’ve had them for about a year.

So do you wear glasses or are you one of those freaks with 20/20 vision? Let us know even if your sight is perfect. We won't hold it against you... much.

Aloha Means Never Having to Clean Up the Kitchen...

It's Tuesday again, so that means we're back with another delicious recipe and the woes or successes of the overall cooking experience. I say that, because it was a success in the end (the meal was yum) but the process of getting there was very woeful.

Very Woeful Indeed.

I'm just going to come right out and say it. I am a klutsy person. If there is a crack in the sidewalk, I will find it and trip. If you throw something to me, I will drop it. If you hand something to me, there is a strong possibility that I'll drop it. If I'm pouring something, it will spill. If I'm eating, I will get food on my clothes. And so on and so forth. That is why cooking is hazardous for me. I don't mind cooking, I like to do it even, but I'm better off with recipes that seem like they were complicated, but were actually only like two steps. 

This week Sass gave me the task of making Pineapple Rice.

Pineapple Rice Recipe

You can use extra-virgin coconut oil in the dressing instead of the macadamia, olive or sunflower oils if you like. In fact, it's a great choice, particularly if you'll be serving the rice hot. It solidifies at room temperature. Follow the same instructions, just don't be alarmed by the white flecks in the dressing after you puree it. They will disappear upon heating.

1/3 cup macadamia oil, olive oil, or sunflower oil
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup (fresh or canned) all-natural 100% pineapple juice
1 garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons soy sauce (or shoyu)
1 cup pineapple, cut into chunks
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

4 handfuls of mizuna, watercress, or arugula

2 1/2 cups cooked brown rice, room temperature
4 green onions, thinly sliced
3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup cashews, roasted/toasted and chopped
1/2 small serrano chile, seeded and deveined, and minced (optional)
4 ounces seitan, cut into little bits and pan-fried (optional)

Start by making the dressing. Combine the oil, sesame oil, pineapple juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, fresh pineapple, ginger, and salt in a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan, and gently warm just before serving, don't simmer or boil.

In an extra-large bowl toss the mizuna with a generous splash of the dressing. Arrange it on a platter (as a bed for the rice)

You can serve the rice portion of this recipe room temperature or hot - Wayne really loved the hot version, and so did I. In the same bowl you used to toss the greens, or in an extra large skillet over medium heat, combine the rice, most of the onions, shallots, cashews and serrano chile, and seitan. Add about half of the dressing and toss well. If you are serving the rice hot, saute it in the pan until it is heated throughout. Taste, and adjust with more dressing if needed. Spoon the rice over the greens and finish with any remaining onions, shallots, cashews, and seitan.

Serves 2- 4, main vs. side.

Inspired by and (heavily) adapted from a recipe in the Summer 2009Edible Hawaiian Islands publication.

As you can see, there are more than two steps. You're probably telling yourself right now, "Self, there doesn't appear to be that many steps, what is wrong with this girl?" Well, I'll tell you what is wrong with me, how it all went down and explain myself right now.

First things first, I looked over the recipe and realized that I didn't have most of the ingredients. I had brown rice and EVOO on hand at my house. That's it. I didn't even have a blender. I've been meaning to buy one, so I figured now was as good as time as any. So, I headed to Target after work yesterday to get everything I needed. When I was perusing the vegetables, I realized I had no idea what mizuna, watercress or even arugula looked like. I knew I had heard of arugula, but that was about it. I looked again and again at the leafy greens, and there was nothing to be found. That should have been the first sign.

After a second pass of the produce section, I gave up and decided to use my spinach I had at the house. I then headed over to the oils and spices to stock up on some new flavors. I'm always surprised at their prices, but it was fine since I figure I will definitely use them again. Then, I crossed the store to check out the blenders, and I found one on sale which is always nice.

I finally got home with all of my supplies, and I decided to get down to cooking. I have limited space in my apartment, and the kitchen does not have a lot of counter space. It doesn't take much to clutter it completely, and I try to clean as you go to make it easier, but last night it was like I was doing everything at once except for cleaning.

The recipe says to make the dressing first, but I was immediately chopping shallots (I now know what they are - go me) and garlic. I just thought it would be best to get the chopping out of the way. That though just took up my counter space. I also started cooking my brown Success rice which I'm glad I have because I wouldn't have been able to handle anything BUT bag rice last night. Then, I had to get my blender out of the box, cut it out of all those ridiculous ties and bags.

I hope you can see how the mess just kept growing and growing. Then, apparently I pushed one of the buttons on the blender at some point, so when I plugged it in, it started up, whirring loudly and scaring the shit out of me. After making sure the blender was indeed off, I put it together and started making the dressing. This wasn't difficult. I did accidentally not follow directions because I put like a 1/3 of a cup of pineapple instead of 1 cup. (I later commented to Sass that it didn't have the sweetness I thought it would, not realizing my own blunder)

Anywho, I puree'ed, and it was all good. Then, I tried to take the blender off the base to pour into a small saucepan. Somehow, I loosened the glass from the blade instead of the whole thing from the base, and much to my dismay, my sauce started to leak right out the bottom. With a few choice curses, I righty tighty'ed it back up, but then I could not, prob because of my EVOO fingers, could not get it loose. I had to tip the whole blender over to pour the sauce in the pan. There was a lot of drippage. That task was finished, though, so I let out a sigh of relief and a look of annoyance directed at the blender.

I then turned to the rice itself which warranted toasted cashews. I had decided at the store that I was going to use walnuts since I had them at my house, so I did. I chopped them and then put them in the pan with the heat on super low, but since I'm slow, they started to get a little too toasty, if you know what I mean.

I was burning my nuts up.

I finally got all the other ingredients in the pan (including a few pickled jalapenos I chopped up in place of a serrano chile because I'm classy like that) with the dressing, and I knew it was going to be okay. After I had poured ALL of the dressing on the rice, I looked back at the directions to see it said half of it, season to taste. Well, I just had to hope that I was all about full flavor. Everything was finally going my way then, well, until I knocked the glass of jalapenos over, spilling pickled pepper juice all over my counter. That was fun. I swear, super klutz here.

FINALLY, everything was done, and I was ready to arrange for a pretty picture. I poured some rice on top of the spinach, sprinkled the rest of the shallots, remembered last minute to cut up the green onions so I sprinkled them on top and then got fancy with a pineapple garnish (It wasn't a garnish really since I ate those pineapple pieces, but just go with it.) This is the final product.

Looks delicious, right? It was. All of my hard work paid off, and really, for a normal person, I don't think this recipe would be difficult at all. Remind me to tell you the time I made a chocolate cake with icing so hard, you couldn't penetrate it with a butcher's knife. That's a story for another day...

So, then, I had this lovely presentation, but I hadn't invited anyone over to share it with me. I wasn't going to let the beauty go to waste, though, so I ate dinner out of the giant salad bowl, sitting on the floor in my underwear. Don't judge me.

Obviously, I only ate a small portion of the rice, but I did eat most of the spinach. It was really good, and I was pretty proud of myself. I'm going to bring the rest of the rice to share with my parents at their house tonight. I told my mother she just has to make everything else. After I was through eating directly from the giant salad bowl like a savage, I went back into the kitchen to put the rest of the rice away, and this is what I found.

What you can't see is the spilled jalapeno juice, but you can see the rest of my mess I had to clean up. If you take this step by step and clean as you go, it would be easy to cook, easy to clean, but I can never do anything the easy way.

I do recommend this rice. It was tasty, healthy and would be fantastic as a side dish to a lot of meals. Get out and make it yourself and then let us know your experience. Please when you share, though, mention how you accidentally leaned on the cutting board, making the ingredients fly into the air, smattering garlic and shallots against the wall and all in your hair and then you slipped on some spilled EEVO and fell on the floor. Basically, make me feel better about all my spaziness. Mkay? Thanks!

The Doctor is...In.

You know that one elusive radio song that's super catchy, yet you have no clue who it's by? I have a few of those thanks to my local indie radio station. They're great about playing awesome songs, but not so fabulous about letting me know who the artists are. There's one song they play frequently that I've grown to love, and I've just given up on ever finding out who it's by. I figure a little mystery makes me dig it even more.


So, imagine my surprise when I started listening to Dr. Dog, the musical offering this week from Snark. There it was! *My* song! The song is called Shadow People and I really love it. The melody is familiar, and every time I listen to it, I feel like it's been a part of my musical repertoire for a while. Yet, at the same time it feels remarkable fresh and new. It starts off slow, mellow and entrancing and builds up into a toe-tapping number that makes me smile. I often find myself whistling the tune later on in the day, it's that infectious (and not in an annoying way, like say the herpes, for instance).



The rest of the Dr. Dog songs Snark sent my way follow the same formula. There is something comforting and familiar about them without being too played out or repetitive. After listening to a few songs, I finally realized who Dr. Dog reminded me of: Blind Melon. Sure, there are no little girls running around in bee costumes, and Shannon Hoon's soulful voice is a lot smoother than the twangy styling of lead singer Scott McMicken, but the same heart is felt in both bands, as well as similar melodies.


I can see Dr. Dog becoming a regular part of my musical fare, especially for car rides or hanging around outside. They receive 3.5/5 paws from me. 

Hollyweird.

It’s always nice to see a music television channel promote and celebrate music instead of teen moms, orange (excuse me, “tanned”) alcoholics from the Jersey Shore and short lived sitcoms. This past weekend musicians, bands and stars all walked the white carpet at MTV’s Video Music Awards and the fashion was...well...We’re not quite sure *where* the fashion was, but there were definitely some interesting ensembles to look at.

Lady Gaga

Sass: Everyone and their butcher is talking about Lady Gaga’s get up this week. I now have an idea, however, of what to do with all that extra CSA meat in my freezer...

Snark: All I want to know is how PETA is going to react to this? She’s not wearing fur, so they won’t throw red paint. Hmm... maybe they could throw vats of A1 steak sauce at her?

Ciara

I’m not sure who Ciara is, but I’m pretty sure she’s wanted for the murder of Big Bird (which she tried to cover up by dying his feathers black and white and turning him into a dress). Where’s PETA for a hard hitting investigation when you need them?

Ciara sang that song that one time. You know, um, that song. I’m so in the know. Haha. You mentioned PETA this time around. Man, great minds, ya know? Hmm... I like the top of this dress. I don’t mind feathers, but these are for the birds. Is that how that statement goes? Not sure...

Selena Gomez

I’m almost certain I can recreate this dress using two boxes of aluminum foil and some beads from my kid’s craft cabinet.

This totally looks like one of those outfits the hot alien girls wore on Star Trek. The ensemble would look better if she was green. How could her stylist miss that?

Bonnie McKee

Psst...I forgot my pants!

Hey, do you think people can tell my hair color is dyed? or Can someone tell me where the bathroom is? 

Do any of these frocks tickle your fancy? 

Photos courtesy of Coco Perez and ProjectRungay

Yes...We're Talking True Blood Again - Deal With It.

It’s Thursday again, so that means we are going to talk television. The fall season is starting back up, but we still can’t seem to let go of our summer shows, well, mostly just True Blood. I know, I know, we just talked about it last week, but we were left a little wanting with the season finale. So, we just have to talk about it.


Can we safely say that Alan Ball has decided to disregard the books entirely and has come up with his own version of what happens with these characters?


Yeah, I believe so, but then, it seems to me like he’s following the basics of the book. He straight up told us that there are going to be witches next season, and well, we know that was what book four was all about. I’m just hoping that someone, i.e. Eric, plays the same role in the show as in the book. *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*


Show? Or do you mean “shower”? I mean...um, let’s move on before I get distracted. So, the finale. I have to say, that Russel Edgington really put me off to BBQ for a while. Those flaky, crispy lips? Yuck. I have to say, for as much as Anna Paquin’s Sookie annoys me, the scenes between her and Russel were well acted. I liked their absolutely crazy banter. And when she sent Talbot through the garbage disposal? Poor man, hasn’t he been through enough?


He put you off BBQ? Hahaha. That’s perfect. Yeah, his character is so out of control, but I like it. When she put Talbot down the sink, I was thinking, “Oh, no, she didn’t!” Which is pretty lame, but we can’t control our thoughts, can we? What I did love was Eric. He had some good lines this episode. I also like how we’ve been getting to see more of the good parts of Eric, not just the bastardy parts.


Yes - I agree...The various shades of Eric shined through in this episode. The end there, when he showed up all coated in cement? I died a little. Who knew somebody could look that devastatingly handsome like that. Not that Sookie seemed to care. Acted a little harsh there, huh? Before she got sucked up into the Faery space craft...


I couldn’t find Eric in cement, so I settled for this pic. I hope you don’t mind...

No...I don't mind at all. 


When Sookie was running through the graveyard, I thought if she is running back to Bill, I’m going to bitch slap her so hard. Thank goodness she wasn’t. Also, it’s good she wasn’t since the Queen was there, fighting Matrix style with Bill. That visual effect did nothing for me. It looked stupid. So, if Bill kills her, will he be King? That would be insane.


No, I don’t think he would...Eric maybe? Or another area sheriff? But yeah, you’d think HBO could spring for better special effects. Between that scene and the lame CGI panthers, I’m beginning to think they’re allowing some high school videography class work on developing their skills. Oh, and speaking of the panthers...can we talk about wtf is going on with Jason being the new leader of the Hotshot panther crew?


Yeah, with their Deliverance teeth and clothes? It’s going to be interesting next season. There is only so much inbred panther business that I can handle. Though, I do love Jason. He has the best of intentions. He’s just so stupid... Loveable, but stupid.


Yeah, like a puppy. Jason would totally shift into a puppy if he was supernatural. Oh, so you mentioned before that Eric had some good lines. I have to say that there were a few good lines in this season finale. Lafayette had a few, one of which had me laughing out loud.
“You’re a witch, who's a nurse, who's a dude.”
I mean, that’s classic Laffy, right there.

Oh, yeah, I loved that part. “Wait, magic?” I am glad that Alan Ball didn’t kill Lafayette like in the book. I wonder if he will be all involved in the witch wars next season... well, if they even do that. I mean, they are going  to do something since they zoned in on that doll in Hoyt and Jessica’s new fixer-upper.


That doll scared me. Let’s forget about that. But can we please talk about how adorable Hoyt and Jessica are? I loved the intervention his mama set up at his job site. That killed me - with the guidance counselor. Way to go Hoyt for standing up to them! I didn’t really love the character of Jessica at first, but I like where they’ve taken her for sure.


The intervention was great. Also, Tara’s character is not as annoying as she was. I feel as though I’m a serious True Blood accent critic, being from where it takes place (Shreveport), and her accent was the one that bothered me the most. It took me a while to see, or hear, past it. I like her new do. It’s a lot better than those braids. I’m also curious to see where she goes, since she’s so obviously leaving Bon Temps.


All I know is that I LOVE Tara’s new hair cut. All that Southern twang sounds the same to me. Oh, and Sam? Why’d they have to go and make him all Mr. Badass now? Not Sam. sigh. I’m hoping he didn’t really shoot his brother.


I bet he shot him in the leg or something, so he couldn’t run. Sam is acting like a big asshole, but it’s believable. He’s a good actor.


I guess we’ll have to wait until next season for all these answers and more. Can’t wait to see what other tricks and treats Alan Ball has up his sleeve. Let us know what you thought of the final episode. Did it live up to your expectations or were you feeling all disappointed when it ended?