U2 Makes the Ultimate Fanvid

Is it just a coincidence that YouTube and U2 are almost the same name?! Go wrap your brain around that over Christmas break conspiracy freaks.

Everyone else, enjoy this video:

"Window in the Skies"



*Addendum: Just thought I should let you know that I found this video (coincidentally) through a Guster post on MySpace. Thought they should get some credit.

I'm Special! (said in my best Ralph Wiggum voice)

I recently reached into the pocket of a coat I don't wear very often and found this old ticket stub from a concert held during my junior year of college.

It's funny, I don't remember being the Special Guest that night. Although, Guster and I were pretty tight back then and I am special. So I guess it's possible.

Word Around the Water Cooler

For once the word is around my own office, not Dunder Mifflin's. I know I've said I won't be stupid and blog about work, but this is just too good not to share (and it's not harmful or mean to anyone). Really, it's just funny and amusing.

About a month ago, all the department heads were called to a meeting by our Chief of Staff. After the meeting was over, there was that buzz that happens when one group gets some new information and must spread it to anyone they come into contact with, right. now. Sometimes that energy can be positive, like "yay Christmas bonus!" and sometimes the energy feels more like "no Christmas for you!" Around here, that day was like Christmas had been canceled (you knew I couldn't go the whole post without referencing it at least once).

However, since the Chief of Staff doesn't have the authority to cancel Christmas, the news (I later heard from my boss) was that they are bringing in "staffing consultants" to assess the office and see who is necessary and who is not. Or as my boss put it "They are bringing in the Bobs".

Ummmmm, yeaaaaa. I think I better get working on all those backed up TPS reports I have to put covers on.

Or maybe, I'll just do this:

Lyrics for My Life

Just for the record
The weather today
is slightly sarcastic with a good chance of:

A. Indifference or

B. Disinterest in what the critics say.

Is Xenu for You? Find Out With a Free Stress Test!

Thanks to Tom Cruise, almost everyone not living under a rock has heard of the Church of Scientology. I've heard it ridiculed, I've seen the "Free Stress Test" people, and I know a small amount about it (basically that it is based around the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard - a former sci-fi author, there are some strange ideas and practices surrounding it, they don't condone psychological practices, and celebrities like to hop on the Scientology-wagon and then jump on couches).

Really, it all seems a little crazy and cult-like. However, before I totally made up my mind about the group, I decided I had to at least become more informed about what they are really all about. That's when I realized that it is almost impossible to find something written on Scientology that is impartial. There are either sites sponsored by the Church of Scientology that are obviously not going to bring up any problems with the religion, and there are sites extremely opposed to the religion and only talk about the negatives.

The site that comes closest to impartiality is definitely Wikipedia. Whoever wrote the article, at least brought up the church's denial of their stranger practices. But just for the sake of showing you something really interesting, here is a segment from the Wikipedia article that talks about advanced teachings that have supposedly leaked out of the church (although the church claims they have been taken out of context and distorted by the media and dissenters in order to make the group look bad). However, I'm not aware of a way that this could ever be in context and not still sound crazy:

"Xenu (sometimes Xemu) is introduced as an alien ruler of the "Galactic Confederacy" who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of people to Earth in spacecraft resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Their souls then clustered together and stuck to the bodies of the living."

Say what?!

I'm not exactly a true-believer of everything in the Bible either, but Xenu and Friends goes FAR beyond the realms of belief suspension I can accomplish. If I have trouble believing that two of every animal on the earth sat on a giant boat for 40 days and didn't tear each other apart, the step in Scientology where I have to accept the teachings of the Galactic Confederacy might be a little tough for me too.

My other strike against Scientology is that the list of celebrities who have left the church includes one Charles Manson. You've got to be a little weary of a religion that is even too much for that guy to handle.

I still recommend you research it on your own though, and come to your own conclusions. You never know, maybe Xenu is for you.

I'm the F to the U, R, K the E, Y

It's that time of year again!

No, I'm not talking about the crap with the big fat man and the mistletoe, although it is obviously that time too. What I'm talking about is list time. This is when EVERYONE and their mother comes out with a list of "The Best __________ of 2006!" Comedy Central already had their Last Laugh, MTV's probably gearing up for their TRL special of "The Top 50 Videos of 2006 You Would Have Seen on MTV if We Ever Played Videos" and I'm sure E! will be having a craptacular blow-out of "The Top 100 List of List Shows We Filled Our Dead Air With in 2006 Because We Can't Create Any Quality Programming Other than The Soup!!!" (note the extra punctuation to show just how excited they are about their jobs).

Joking aside, we all know that I love lists. So, apart from having to bear the ones that make me want to stick sharp objects in my eye (thank you E!), I am a fan of this time of year in all its listy-ness.

Today's list is brought to us by Rolling Stone (they like lists too, but not as much as those people at Billboard). It is "The 100 Best Songs of 2006" list. And I am sad to say that I must have sucked at life when it came to finding good music this year, because I missed a lot of these. I guess its time to catch up!

I also don't buy some of these tracks as being the best the music world had to offer this year. You can read more of my opinions below about some of the selections, but I just have to say -


Some observations I have after perusing the list are:

1. Is "Ridin" really the #3 best song of the whole entire 365 days of 2006? It must have been a slow year in music.

2. The song that I claimed as mine earlier in the year, The Dixie Chicks' "The Long Way Around" is in the top 20 yall! Holla!
Oh, god. I did not just say holla. Kill me.

3. "When the Sun Goes Down" by The Arctic Monkeys was a killer song that I listened to a lot this year. Yay for Monkeys!

4. If there's no possible way to avoid it entirely, the only way I can handle listening to the song "Promiscuous" is to stick sharp objects in my ears and then just dance to the bassline. Definitely not in my top 100.

5. On snap! "London (Fucking) Bridge"!! Are you kidding me?!?!!! (extra punctuation to show how much that song should NOT be on this list). I could handle "Fergalicious", maybe. But probably only because its easy to make into Furkalicious and my friends like to sing it to me at the bar.

6. Anyone who likes pop-punk/emo music and hasn't heard the whole Panic! at the Disco album, go get it right now. It's like a storming infectious-beat soap opera from beginning to end. I'm happy to see my favorite track "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage" at #84.


Lastly, where is "Cable Car", "Crooked Teeth", "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"? And what about stuff from Weezer? They were all over the radio this year.

Just my 2 cents.

I'm sure they missed some of your favorites too.

Big Ideas

If you're interested in marketing, viral messages, or just some random bits of information, then you should definitely check out this blog I found recently called Gaping Void. It's written by a guy named Hugh from the UK who does marketing for a South African Vineyard and also creates interesting drawings on the backs of business cards. Many have to do with working in the advertising/marketing/creative world, but there is something there for everyone. Check out his gallery.

I'm particularly fond of this new one:


Think I'll have it put on the back of my business cards.

I have also added the Gaping Void widget to my sidebar, so you can check out a bunch of them.

Which one would be yours?

Strange Phenomenon

Can anyone tell me why I had a huge influx of traffic on my blog yesterday? There were people coming in from all over the place and I'm wondering how they were getting here. Maybe you're one of those people and you came back. If so, how did you find me?

I'm interested in knowing what I might have done so maybe I can do it again. =)

Look What My Boss is Getting for Christmas!

Click on the picture to buy your boss one.

I did warn you about my Office obsession, yes?

My boss loves the show too and I'm sure he'll display this proudly on his desk.

I Think I'm Getting Addicted

If you haven't noticed, The Office is quickly becoming my favorite show, and while I start catching up on the episodes I've missed there may be a high concentration of Office themed posts.

This one is just a picture. The funniest picture I've seen in a while. Have I mentioned my love for Steve Carell? Maybe that will be the topic of my next post. For now, here is the picture (and just imagine your boss at work giving an anti-drug presentation named this):

THE OFFICE:
Better
than
drugs.

I Swear if I Had Work to Do Right Now I Would Be Doing It

Things I want to do before I die.
1. Go back to Australia
2. Live in a foreign country
3. Be in love
4. Get certified in scuba and dive all over the world
5. Change someone's life

Things I can do.
1. Dance/choreograph
2. Sing the words to almost every song
3. Take fairly decent pictures
4. Survive on my own
5. Talk intelligently and convincingly about almost every subject (even if I really have no idea what I'm talking about.)

Things I cannot do.
1. Wear a bikini
2. Make that popping noise that Donkey makes in Shrek 2 (just ask Kelly, it's not pretty)
3. Eat mushrooms
4. Flirt
5. Talk intelligently and convincingly about politics.

Things that attract me to the opposite sex.
1. Eyes - especially blue or green
2. Sense of humor - especially sarcasm
3. Scruffy hair
4. Cute dorkiness
5. Manners (I know that sounds old-fashioned, but who doesn't melt when a guy opens a door for you?)

Celebrity crushes.
1. David Duchovny (obviously)
2. John Krasinski (who, btw, is from Newton and I would die if I saw him out at a bar in Boston)
3. Zach Braff
4. Gavin DeGraw
5. Jimmy Fallon

(Think this list upholds what I said in the previous list?)

People I want to do this next.
1. Even if I say it, no one will do it anyway.

Link Update

I just updated the link to the free TV site below. I think between the day I did my post and yesterday, they moved the site. So it should be working now.

Here it is again if you don't want to look for it in the post: http://allfg.alluc.org/cms/cms/

The Best Things in Life Are Free, Part Deux

Just in case you missed the memo....THE INTERNET IS AWESOME!
(If you were hoping for better commentary from a Boston University College of Communication alum on the state of media and communication in 2006, please remember that I have two jobs and no desire to think any more than necessary apart from them.)

So, my latest, greatest find in the arena of fabulous internet content is this site - http://allfg.alluc.org/cms/cms/. On here you can watch FREE episodes of your favorite TV shows - LOST, Grey's, Seinfeld, The Office, etc. Of course, my own personal favorite is The X-Files! Only seasons 1, 2 and some of 5 are up, which is random, but I'm not complaining.

A few down-sides to the site are - you will need Quicktime installed on your computer (easily acquired) and a fast internet connection (we have cable and an hour long episode uploads quickly and runs fine). The video quality also isn't exactly HD TV, but how much does it really matter when you're probably watching the episode for at least the 6th time (or is that just me)?

Lastly, I do not promote piracy or illegal downloading (especially of moves and television). This site provides strictly streaming video content (non-downloadable) and I did look into the legality of the content posted on the site. Apparently, like the free music download site I had recommended in an earlier post, the site manager is just acquiring the links to the content and listing them in one handy place for people to browse. Most of the videos link to external sites where the people who have uploaded them have had to (hopefully) prove their legal right to share the content.

So my advice: get while the gettins good. This may be like Napster (circa 2000) where the content is given free reign until someone realizes the money they are potentially losing and finds a better way to cash in.

If you need to find me, I will be retracing the beginnings of Mulder and Scully. Please leave your jokes about my giant dork status below.


P.S. Speaking of....congratulations go out to Gillian Anderson (aka Scully) on the birth of her son.

P.P.S. Congratulations also go out to David Duchovny for being hot.

Photographic Scavenger Hunt

The fun people at Sh1ft have a really cool photography exercise to check out. Once every couple of months they post a list of 26 Things for people to try to capture and express through the pictures they take. Once you take the pictures, you can upload the best ones onto the 26 Things Flickr Group to share with everyone else. It's interesting to see what images people come up with to represent the word or phrase on the list.

I have yet to participate in this, so I have decided to work through November's 26 Things. The goal is to try to shoot at least one thing a day. On the right column of this blog I have posted the list of things I will be looking to shoot. Once I get a good shot of one I'll upload it here and also link it to my Flickr account.

SexyOffice

I am in love with this video someone did that merges "SexyBack" with clips from The Office. HI-arious, and way better than the Justin version. In fact, people should petition MTV to show this instead of the real one. Oh, wait. MTV doesn't play videos.

Thank you YouTube and person with lots of extra time on their hands for making this possible.

My Plans for the Future are Ruined!

All because of this.

Doogie Howser, I'll never love another child genius doctor like you again. And you'll always be every best answer to the questions in Girl Talk.

Blog Tag Topic #1 (To find out more about Blog Tag see previous entry)

Tag Topic #1: Take your favorite book and turn it into a movie - tell us who you would cast as the actors, director, etc. and why. (If your favorite book is already a movie, tell us how you would have done it differently.)

My favoritest book is The Odyssey, (yes please stamp "BIG DORK" on my forehead now), but there are far too many characters in that book to cast. So instead I will do my second favorite book, The Lovely Bones (I am also kind of cheating since I did a paper on this for my Careers in Hollywood class).

For those that haven't read it, The Lovely Bones is a novel by Alice Sebold about Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl from the suburbs who is attacked on her way home from school by a neighbor who then proceeds to rape and murder her. She narrates the whole story from heaven where she is able to look down upon the family, friends, and even the murderer she left behind. Through her eyes we see how each of them struggles through life as they carry the burden of her death with them.

Actors:
Susie Salmon - Jenna Boyd (The Missing, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)
Why: She's not as overly exposed as someone like Dakota Fanning and she's proven herself in dramatic roles.

Detective Fisherman (investigates Susie's case) - Billy Crudup (Big Fish, Trust the Man)
Why: There's just something about him I really like. And I enjoy his work. I think he has the ability to play many different types of characters - from a cocky rock star in Almost Famous, to a clean cut, no nonsense son in Big Fish and a slacker boyfriend in Trust the Man.

Susie's Dad - Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rogue, The Island)
Why: I'd like to see him take on the role of a distraught father with a family coming apart and see his physical change as the years go on.

Susie's Mom - Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, Little Miss Sunshine)
Why: I guess I like her as the mother of bizarre families. She's done so well in the past.

Mr. Harvey (Susie's next door neighbor and killer) - John C. Reilly (Chicago, Talladega Nights)
Why: I think he is an amazing actor who could bring humanity to such a hated character.

Susie's Grandma - Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for Dream, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood)
Why: Like Reilly, I think she's a very talented actor and I'd love to see her take on this emotional role.

Director: Sam Mendes (American Beauty)
Why: I think he could capture the same creepy underbelly of white-bread, suburban America that he did for Beauty to put to use in this very different time and story.

So, there's my movie. If you haven't read the book, don't wait for the real movie to come out. No matter who is involved, most movies just don't measure up to their books. It'll be interesting to watch for the cast list to come out though and see if any of my picks make it (I had to do this exercise in another class for The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and when the movie came out at least one of my character picks matched up to the real one!).

Let me know what you think of my list and (if you've read the book) let me know what you might do different.

Then check out Sara's entry on the same topic. Tag Sara, you're it!

You're It!!

I am officially starting a game of blog tag. How to play:
1. I am going to write about a subject.
2. Then I am going to tag someone in the comments section on their blog - including a link back to my post for them to see.
3. They have to write about the same subject, then tag someone they know and on and on it goes.

When you tag someone you should:
- make sure you put a link to their blog on the bottom of your blog entry so that people can follow the links and see the chain of entries.
- remember to put a link back to your entry when you tag them in the comment section. The links should be carried over into every tag so that as the game progresses there is a longer and longer list of links of posts on the same subject by different people.

For example: I am going to write a post on a topic. Then I am going to tag Sara by commenting on her blog and posting a link to my post. When she goes to tag someone new in their comments section, she will copy and paste the link to my post and then add the link to her post above it:

Like a Poem Poorly Written
Invincible Summer

The next person who tags someone will copy both our links and then add the link to their post to the top.

Get it?
Got it?
Good.

Some Pre-Halloween Creepiness

Every Sunday, I like to go to the Post Secret blog to take a look at the new postcards that have been put up on the page. They are artistically and emotionally interesting, as well as shocking, sad and funny. If you've never been to the site it is worth a look.

Anyway, I went there today and at the end of this week's new card listings there is a postcard that I remembered from the week before that was just a brown piece of wrinkled paper with coordinates on it. Below it, the Post Secret webmaster has now posted an image he got through an email that seems to be a picture of what is at those coordinates (they must have been in the email as well). Posted above it are the coordinates and when you click on the link, it brings you to a Google Maps look up of that coordinate. It shows it to be somewhere near Germantown, Maryland. The closest things to it are farms and parkland. Frank from Post Secret said that he would post more as soon as he knew anything about the pictures.

So I don't know if he's thinking what my twisted brain is thinking, but my initial reaction was "Oh my god, someone buried a body there and sent in the coordinates as their secret!". Maybe being a criminal justice major and watching too much X-Files, CSI and Forensic Files has warped my mind and made me immediately jump to the worst possible conclusions, but did this cross anyone else's mind?

If what I'm thinking is right, we could have the new generation in creepy murderers on our hands. It would also be the most scandelous secret on that site to date. And maybe the worst part about my theory is that it wouldn't surprise me a bit if it were true. People are crazy and people do crazy things. If I've learned anything about life so far, it is not to underestimate the possible loonacy capable of the human race. I know. I've taken abnormal psychology and I ride public transportation every day, plus I've spent time in the south.

Happy (Belated) Blog-Day to Me!

That's right, on Monday, October 9, 2006, Invincible Summer officially turned one year old! Who actually thought I'd still be writing in here a whole year later? Certainly not me. In leiu of the extremely long and very witty post I was writing the other day that got lost when my web browser decided to freeze up (grrrrr!), I have made a list of some of my favorite posts from the past year for you to check out.

If you are a loyal reader (aka blog stalker) I invite you to tell me what your favorites have been or, if you rather, you can tell me that mostly this blog sucks. Either type of comments will be appreciated. =) This would also be a great time for those of you who just blindly stumbled here for the first time and those who read and never comment to say "hi!". Think of it as my blog-day present.

And if you are thinking to yourself - "Hey, I read this crappy blog all the time, what do I get?", here is a gift just for you.

And on to the favorites...

Procrastinating
October 9, 2005
The post that started it all and an explanation for the name.

The Happiest Town on Earth?
October 11, 2005
Post numero dos. A rant on how 5 major media outlets own everything we see and hear, and a little town named "Celebration". Plus there's a picture of the Hamburglar.

Here's an Equation for You
October 21, 2005
Short and (not so) sweet.

I'm a Fucking Genius
November 17, 2005
I still think this is a great idea.

Evil Allison
November 23, 2005
The holidays always bring out the best in me. I like this one mostly because I am a sarcastic bitch in it and also because it's the one post I have where Jess leaves a comment. Big ups to the Bear.

Who's a Ho?
December 6, 2005
Another sarcastic gem. I feel I have gotten soft in the past year and I'm going to have to step up the sarcasm again. Time to have a Lewis Blackathon.

CLR Tribute
January 3, 2006
Love to my girls.

Things I (Still) Miss
February 9, 2006
Life is sad when you don't have a job.

Why I (Still) Love Heather Gould
March 30, 2006
This just has to be reposted for anyone else who graduated in 2004.

The FCC Can Derelicte My Balls
April 1, 2006
I just realized I did this post on April Fool's day. Maybe that was Comedy Central's joke to us - bleeping out "balls". Hehe, yea Bevis, you said balls.

Summer
July 16, 2006
I chose this one because it goes with the blog theme and I actually still like what I wrote. Usually with poems, I go back a month later and hate it. Also, I realized I had 10 favorites listed and decided that a top 10 list is SO overdone. So that was my top 11 list.

Take that David Letterman!


Thanks for reading folks (all 5 of you).