:)

monday free 'ssociatin', y'all

* watched 'the science of sleep' last night, which i received from netflix on 4/13 -- how's that for not being too excited about seeing a movie? anyway, i really enjoyed it. super weird, but that gael garcia bernal is crazy charismatic, and i really liked charlotte gainsbourg in it, too. i know she's a fashion photographer muse, which i never understood, but she does have a weird beauty to her. and i do love her new album, '5:55.'

* going to san jose yet again tomorrow. if you need me, you can find me at the airport radisson, cause nothing but the best for me, uh huh.

* wilco at the greek theater on wednesday night, thank jeebus.

* sea ranch starting on friday, praise.

* i also have a cleveland trip to look forward to (i will be at a suburban holiday inn, because i have to bring the glamour to you non-stop).

* 'right at your door' is a pretty creepy movie, albeit way low budget and with the worst sound mix of any movie ever.

our friends paul and sarah are riding in the lance armstrong foundation's livestrong challenge. if you can give a bit in support, please do.

funny honey

i don't watch 'snl' ever these days, but somehow i came across this bit and lurve it. apparently kristen wiig, the star of the skit, has a character called 'target lady' that is also hilar, but i've yet to find it on the internets. anyway, please enjoy (to me, it gets funnier the longer it goes on):

that's just something in my eye

they say bad news comes in threes, and i think they are right. it's been a tough week here at lyrical robot central and we've officially hit the fabled three instances of bad news and are hoping no more is lurking on the horizon. not being a particularly religious type, i'll ask for any proverbial non-specific good vibes you'd like to send out into the universe. can't hurt, right?

in other news, the new rilo kiley album is only just ok, though jenny lewis' voice seems to be getting even better. the songs are pretty blech, unfortch. also, the new pornographers new album is only just ok, as well, but their 'just ok' and everyone else's 'just ok' are worlds apart in my book. main complaint is my version of 'more cowbell': more neko!

also, 'superbad' is supergood, and i am giving you an ultimatum regarding the new bourne film: go see it! (ba dum dum)

finally, to lighten the mood a little bit right now, please enjoy a picture of the mister and mine's four-legged niece as a pup:

smart move

check out this story and attendant photos of a bizarre break-in in palm springs about ten houses away from our old abode. creepy to the max:

helter skelter redux

i hope you're not shopping at wal-mart

but if you are, and you have dogs, please don't buy their food there. this is the umpteenth announcement i've read about their possible toxicity of their food & treats (apparently all made in china). also, trader joe's is another to watch out for given their reliance on ingredients from china. it's questionable how safe this stuff is for humans and you can bet there's even less rigor applied to making sure it's safe for dogs and other pets.

grrrrr.

greetings from the home of costco

in seattle today -- had to fly up for a meeting that ended way early, and now i am stuck at the sea-tac airport with three hours to call. help!

funny, though -- there is a hip young thing next to me on a bench and she is reading an apparently new harlequin romance paperback. i had no idea they still published those things! maybe i should check them out. the title of this one is "because of our child." i like to finish the thought, such as:

"because of our child, i had to have vaginal rejuvenation surgery."
or
"because of our child, i now sleep with a shotgun and baseball bat under the bed because he appears to be possessed by a demon."
or
"because of our child, i had to shoplift three bags of combos and an enema from the long's drug store."

i see france

i happened to catch the finale of project runway season 1 tonight (i missed that season entirely and must catch up at some point) which reminded me, upon seeing parker posey appear as a judge, that i'd totally forgotten to blog about 'broken english.'

i believe i have bored you with my love of ms. posey before (which dates back to my seeing 'dazed and confused' in a washington d.c. theater fourteen years ago and thinking she was the best thing in it, even though she had about a minute of screen time), but 'broken english' is, i think, her best role yet.

she's so often in comedies that i guess i never realized what a great dramatic actress she is. not that she's not funny in this, but she just acted up a storm. the movie seemed a little pat at the beginning (i dare you not to wince during the anniversary party scene that opens the film) but ends up being quite original and endlessly compelling, mainly because of her performance. plus, as far as i'm concerned, you can never go wrong with anything set partially in paris.

also, i have to say one of the joys of palm springs is the fact that you can be out here in the dead of august and see 'broken english' in limited release. not bad for a town of 42,000.

yikes

if you're coming to visit us in palm springs, bring your own earthquake supplies

work tsunami

i knew this week was gonna be a tough one, but i didn't know it would be this tough, so i'm going to have to go back to sharing with you some of the best stuff i can find on the interweb.

on top of it all, i have to fly to seattle and back on thursday and the mister's tales of airline woe have me very concerned for my safety and mental well-being.

this is, as the queens say, 'fierce.' and please notice the guitarist having the epileptic fit at 1:23 into the video.

the dog days of august

it's the dog days of august, and i've never felt more refreshed. i have to say, this has been a very mild summer in california and i'm so glad i don't live elsewhere. it feels positively fall-like in palm springs lately, but that isn't going to stop me from swimming (see pic from last week's outing above).

a few thoughts:

* watch out for homeowner's associations. they give people license to bring their behind-closed-doors batshit craziness right up into your grill

* can we just all agree that mining is a dangerous profession and move the hell on?

* is it me, or is the last functioning leg (relative domestic economic robustness) of the bush administration stool about to fly out from under it?

enjoy some more ha ha from the flight of the conchords and enjoy your weekend. remember, friends don't let friends listen to loverboy.


if you're into it

linkville

unfortunamente, i am busy, busy, busy over here, but i ran across this blog post today and thought it was the funniest thing. my links on the right are way out of date (and even broken, in some cases), but if i had my shit together, i'd have added the wow report to the list a long time ago. it's always a great read, and here's an example of why:

smitten

back atcha

i can't stop myself from posting!

i watched 'half nelson' last night. the subject matter (crackhead teacher and student who discovers his secret) totally put me off, so i never saw it in the theater and wasn't chomping at the bit to watch it on video. but, oscar nominee ryan gosling did put his arm around me once, so i figured i should give it a shot.

i long ago gave up on owning dvd's because i so infrequently watch them once i own them (with the exception of 'the talented mr. ripley' and 'the comeback'), but i think i'm gonna have to buy this one. i saw a clip from ebert & roeper in which roeper calls it a masterpiece, and i think he's right. i couldn't believe how good this movie was and how it side-stepped all of the schmaltz it could've drowned in at any second.

here's the trailer, though beware: they cut it to look like the afterschool special/uplifting urban drama that it's absolutely not:

put down your buffet plate and look out of the porthole!

i seem to be finding endless amounts of great stuff on the interwebs for you in the last twelve hours, so please forgive:

voyage of the acorn

part-time model

no doubt those hbo subscribers in lyricalrobotland are well aware of flight of the conchords at this point, but for those not in the know, please enjoy this web clip forwarded by the lovely darliament to ye olde robot.

funny thing about this: it hit me after watching this several times that this is strangely close in tone, delivery and content to beck's "debra." then i remembered hearing in an interview that the conchords first stop when they first went to l.a. was glendale based on that very song. loves it.



btw, their new EP, "the distant future," is out today on itunes, though one song is missing, for some unknown reason.

friends with talent

our dear friend jim's latest smash gallery success was captured on video. enjoy what we were unlucky enough to miss this summer in new york:

jane, stop this crazy thing

oy, george jetson here, trapped on the futuristic cartoon treadmill. this monday is definitely of the 24 hour variety. i won't stop feeling nauseous until it's passed.

a random monday list:

* 'diggers' starring mr. paul rudd and ms. lauren ambrose is ok (the latter bears a resemblance to a certain pal o' da robot that i'd never noticed before). it only lasts an hour and half but it will feel like longer, though not in a bad way.

* sometimes thrift doesn't pay, or 'why the f--k did i get rid of extended cable in palm springs.' no hbo and no 'minor accomplishments of jackie woodman' this week for me.

* i'm too tired after today to keep this list going, so see you when the blogspiration strikes again.

is this a movie still...

...or the before pictures from a joint ad for dermabrasion and hair replacement therapy?

t.g.i.w.t.f.

fridays are so often fun days where you effortlessly slide through the workday hours into the weekend, yes? so why did we have to get up at 7 and move 1/2 of the furniture in our house to the other side, you ask?

asbestos tile! yay!

that's right, our entire house is lined with asbestos tile (well, the floor anyway), and they are coming to remove it next week, hazmat suits and all. they're doing it in two stages, hence the furniture moving. then we get to do the whole thing all over again when they come to put in the new floors.

oh, and did i mention that the 60 year old tree that literally runs the length of our backyard is dead?

if you need me, i'll be at the bottom of a bottle.

ps -- it's time to start publicly shunning people who use laser printers