you and me

CHASING PAPER

we're traveling through time, brutha!

two of us

Thursday, May 31, 2007

speaking of things that are awesome...

This is sweet.

Now, please, Hollywood, make bloated high-budget effects-heavy contemporary film adaptations (that I will see regardless of critical response due to by foolishly honed sense of nostalgia) of the following:

-Voltron
-MASK
-GIJoe
-Thundercats
-He-Man

(As a side note, wouldn't it be great if they made a cheaper than Transformers, straight to video, Walmart exclusive, film version of Gobots.)

paul at 5/31/2007

0comments

I was raised like a gentleman, a classy gentleman. Well, that's over, that era.

I've made note before.

These boys sure are funny. Can't wait until episode three.

paul at 5/31/2007

1comments

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Things I learned over my long weekend...

1. When handed a golf club in my friends back yard, I not only managed to not embarass myself, but also to make contact with the ball multiple times. Perhaps my hand eye coordination is not as shoddy as I once thought. This is a theory to test again in the future.

2. After swinging a golf club for the first time ever and doing back walkovers for the first time in 4-5 years, it will be near impossible to raise your hands over your head the next day. This is not a theory to test again in the future.

3. If your friends wake you up earlier than you'd like in the morning, you're betting off staying in bed even if you can't sleep, because honestly no one wants to be around you at that point.

4. No one will win a debate as to whether Pulp Fiction or Boogie Nights is a better movie. Save your time.

5. We should all make little cards that have our top 5 favorite albums listed on them, preferably laminated, to carry around in our wallets because when you're asked what your top 5 ablums are, you're always inevitably going to forget one of them (Darkness on the Edge of Town).

6. Don't get excited that Justin Verlander's pitching a game you're going to see just because you think he's cute, because you're not going to be able to really see him anyway.

Labels: ,

Carrie at 5/30/2007

7comments

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Season Finale Report Card.

Lost: So, they were promising a "game-changer", and that's what they delivered all right. One of the best episodes of Lost ever, in my opinion. I mean, what happens now? Is this always going to be on the table next year? I'm happy all around with the way things went down: who died, who didn't, impressive badassadry from several of our favorite characters. And seriously dude? Walt got BIG. (Trying to be vague for those who may not have watched yet.)
Grade: A

Heroes: Good episode, but not fantastic. Maybe I was expecting a bloodbath, as Paul put it before the episode aired, so it was a bit of a letdown in that respect. I'm actually kind of torn about how I feel- I wanted more of a showy fight between Sylar and Peter, but I always like seeing the heroes ban together. I honestly did not see Nathan stepping in to save the day coming, so that was cool. Between this and Supernatural, all this brotherly self-sacrifice has me choked up. I'm kind of meh about the last few minutes and Hiro's time travel, but we'll see how that plays out. Also, Claire? Since you've hooked up with your birth family, your wardrobe has improved significantly. That trench coat? Fierce.
Grade: B

Veronica Mars: I know this wasn't meant to be a series finale, so I shouldn't judge it as such, but that's also one of my complaints, which I'll get to in a minute. I liked the episode, loved the return of fiery, bitchy Veronica, but the ending was just weird. I don't know if I would've liked it even if it was just a season finale- the other two ended with such a bang. So Logan redeemed himself, which is good, and we all know that Veronica's the only girl for him, but we deserved to see more between them, you know? Basically, when the fate of Buffy was on the wire, Whedon always managed to produce a finale that worked as a season or a series finale. And that my friends, is why I'm annoyed.
Grade: C-

The Office: Cute and funny all around. I think I still liked Casino Night better, but it's pretty close. The only thing I'm iffy about is the evolution of Jan into a crazy person. She was always the competent, rational professional woman, so in a slightly feministy way that bugs, but it's funny, so I don't think I'll get too bent of out shape about it. The expression on Pam's face after Jim asked her out? Priceless. And dear god, I can't wait to see Ryan as the boss.
Grade: B+

Supernatural: Dean sells his soul to bring Sam back to life, they avenge their mother's death, a door to hell opens, their dad escapes and saves them and takes his rightful place in the heaven, and a small demon army is now walking the earth. A 2 season arc is wrapped up nicely, while the next season (saving Dean's soul, killing all those new demons) is set up well. Good, good, good. And I realize this probably sounds ridiculous to anyone who doesn't watch this show.
Grade: A

I'm just glad that Heroes and The Office will be back in the fall, otherwise this wait until January for the rest of my favorite shows would be torturous.

Labels: ,

Carrie at 5/24/2007

3comments

Okay? Sherlock? Why don't you go solve a mystery.

I've been getting myspace messages like mad from our favorite wunderkind, Michael Cera. Apparently he and his comrade, Clark, have launched a web series called Clark and Michael that supposedly premiered yesterday (though I can't get the link to work). Based on the preview though it looks pretty well done, rather funny, and chock full of guest stars (did I see Patton Oswalt in there?).

Check it:

paul at 5/24/2007

1comments

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

a notable series of events:

1. Even in the age of our DVR I occasionally stop the fast forwarding to view possibly intriguing local commercial tv spots (previously stimulating entries include Owens Community College and Contrada and Associates). Therefore, during last nights Sportscenter, I took pause at a commercial for Findlay Ford Lincoln Mercury.

2. The TV spot in question was nearly unintelligible, prominently featured what seemed to be a local country artist of some sort, and was so unwatchably awesome that it prompted me to take action.

3. That action was to bring into effect the very seldom used "manual recording" feature on my DVR which allows me to record just a few minutes of whatever channel I'm watching.

4. This evening (after viewing a very very interesting season finale to LOST) I made Carrie watch Findlay Ford Linclon Mercury's bit of local programming magic. She agreed as to its noteworthiness.

5. I said "You see, this is the kind of thing that I wish I could transplant directly from our TV to our blog. That's where we're supposed to present unto the world this kind of interesting crap, right?"

6. Carrie went to bed.

7. I checked the website advertised very prominently in the TV spot (see above).

8. Well, here you go. You're welcome.

***by the way, I'm reading an "adult" novel by the guy who is Lemony Snicket. Very interesting...

paul at 5/23/2007

1comments

I love these colors.


I love these colors.
Originally uploaded by hribarca.

Carrie at 5/23/2007

0comments

My bright and cheery pot!


My bright and cheery pot!
Originally uploaded by hribarca.

Carrie at 5/23/2007

0comments

Worth your time.

TV week has compiled clips from all network fall pilots. Pretty impressive little collection. Check it out if you want to see footage of stuff you've been reading about lately. (Found via AICN)

Reconfirms stuff that I thought sounded like crap in concept (really, another vampire detective show?) and has piqued my interest in some that I hadn't paid attention to before. (Is it wrong that I may want to watch the Hugh Jackman musical show?)

Labels:

Carrie at 5/23/2007

0comments

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Happy Birthday, Maggie!



Hello! Meet Maggie. She's a feisty redhead, my dearest friend, and today just happens to be her birthday.
Heehee. Just kidding. You all know Maggie. I know.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAGGIE! I hope it's fantastic, and I can't wait to celebrate with you this weekend.

Labels: ,

Carrie at 5/22/2007

2comments

Monday, May 21, 2007

Someone was very sleepy today!!!


Someone was very sleepy today!!!
Originally uploaded by hribarca.

Carrie at 5/21/2007

1comments

Cat craziness.

There was one downside to our weekend, however. Our "all-up-in-our-business" neighbors brought a cat home this weekend, and then gave said cat to another neighbor under house arrest. (I'm taking bets on what he got the ankle jewelry for. Steve says b&e. I'm thinking something drug-related.) As soon as we saw it, Paul said, I hope they keep that thing indoors, or it's going to drive Monty crazy. And wouldn't you know it? I get woken up last night around 1 by the sound of a cat howling like a banshee. Seriously, it sounded like something was trying to murder it, or it was trying to murder something. Murder was definitely involved. I freak out, because it's like right outside our bedroom window and I don't know if it's Mont or what's going on. And honestly, howling cats have always kind of spooked me. I think it goes back to when I was younger, and occasionally our outdoor cat would get into late night tussles with some random cat, and I would hear and lay in bed and be scared that my cat would get hurt. Irrational, maybe, but I was little.

Anyway, I go get Paul who's fallen asleep on the couch and heard none of this. Monty is in the bathroom all puffed up and big and looking at me like, who the hell is making all that racket? Paul and I don't know what to do, because I don't want to get mixed up with some potentially rabid cat, but fortunately, the attempted murder eventually stops, and we all go to bed (except for Monty, who I believe patrolled the bathroom all night in case any potentially murderous cats returned). But Paul wisely asks, why is the cat freaking out on our back porch? So, dear readers, do you think the neighbor cat could sense that Monty was inside? Mont can't really get in any of the windows in the back of the house, so I don't think the cat saw him (and we never saw the cat). What do you do about crazy neighbor cats? I hope to god this doesn't become routine because sleep was semi-elusive after all this. I really, really, really don't like talking to any of our neighbors, as bitchy as that sounds, and I don't see any related coversations going well. I know, I'm getting ahead of myself, it was only one night. But what would you guys do?

Labels: , ,

Carrie at 5/21/2007

4comments

A weekend of firsts...

So, I've discovered something in the past week or so- I love flower shopping. I mean, I really love it. I think I could spend all day looking at plants and be happy even if I didn't buy anything. Anyway, Paul and I drove all over town on Saturday, and I got to buy lots of flowers and plants. Daisies, pansies, dahlias, delphinium, fuschia, begonias, a strawberry plant. I planted my very first flower pots of my own (I've really only helped my mom before) to put by our front and back doors. Yay!

Yesterday we traveled to East Lansing to to attend the baptism of our goddaugter (I have a goddaughter!!) and spend some time at our friend's parent's lovely lake house. It was my first real baptism, which I guess is fitting. Hailey is cute and smiley and perfect, and she really seems to like me! Seriously, people, me not making a baby cry? That is a first. :)

So, all in all, a great weekend! Pictures to come when I'm energetic enough to get them off the camera.

Carrie at 5/21/2007

4comments

Sunday, May 20, 2007

The Sopranos:

(Seriously. The Sopranos...)

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert.

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

-W.B. Yeats, Slouching Toward Bethlehem

paul at 5/20/2007

0comments

Friday, May 18, 2007

Have I mentioned lately that I love Feist? No? Ok then, I do.

Carrie at 5/18/2007

3comments

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Morning round-up.

What I'll be watching in the fall, part 1: NBC's new Bionic Woman. Seriously, watch this preview- it looks kick ass (well, after you get through the smaltzy family crap in the beginning). Halfway through my beloved Starbuck shows up to hotly lay some smack down. This will probably fill that feministy "strong woman gettin' it done" void that will be left after Veronica Mars ends next week. (Sniff...)

Speaking of Veronica Mars, if you watched this week's episode, then this might amuse you.

No-neck got voted off American Idol! No-neck got voted off American Idol! Woohoo! I'm quit excited. Now we have the chance that someone who won't just sell records to the easy listening crowd will win the competition. Yay!

Labels: ,

Carrie at 5/17/2007

1comments

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Odd Sight.

When I was driving home from work today, I saw on the side street next to ours an older woman (I think it was a woman) riding around on a motorized wheel chair. I noticed then that she was towing a bike stroller from the back from her chair, and on the stroller were giant pink feathers sticking out of the top. I then noticed that inside the stroller was a large cat. She was towing a cat around the neighborhood.

Odd.

Say what you will about how much I dote on Montgomery, but I will never tow him around the neighborhood in a stroller with giant pink feathers.

Labels:

Carrie at 5/16/2007

0comments

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Too much.

Blah. Work's kinda killing me lately, which I guess makes up for previous days of slacking. There are search committees to chair; conference deadlines looming; budget software and financial issues to sort out, and only little ol' me to take care of everything. Basically, I'm having workload distribution issues lately. And the air conditioning is still not turned on in my building.

Anyway, posting's going to be sparse. Hopefully Pablo can pick up my slack.

Is it Memorial Day yet?

Oh yeah, and ATTN: Michiganders - we're headed to the Tigers-Tribe game on Saturday, May 26th. You all should buy tickets for the game and we can hang out at the Elwood before or after. (And did ya see there's going to be fireworks after? Yipppeee!)

Labels: , ,

Carrie at 5/15/2007

0comments

Sunday, May 13, 2007

My cat is badass. However, feel free to buy me an equally badass tortoise at any point.

paul at 5/13/2007

1comments

Friday, May 11, 2007

Dead on.

Pajiba's 10 sexiest people list is like someone opened my diary and spilled all my (not-so) secret little crushes to the world. (With the exception of Simon Peg- cool dude, not hot at all. Sub in Mark Ruffalo for him.) Does this make me smart or incredibly transparent? I guess I'll leave that for you to decide.

Labels: ,

Carrie at 5/11/2007

0comments

New Moon

A "new" posthomous Elliott Smith album came out this week, full of material that he recorded in the mid-90's. I usually roll my eyes at stuff like this (Jeff Buckley, Tupac) but I really like this one. This will always be my favorite Smith era, and it's just so nice and refreshing to hear "new" songs like this again, because let's face it, no one else sounds like him. Anyway, it's gotten me all nostalgic today, so why don't we watch a video of my favorite Elliott Smith song (and one of my all-time favorite songs), "Say Yes"?




One of the more interesting tracks on the album is an early version of Miss Misery, which I both like listening to to hear the evolution of the song and have a hard time listening to b/c the lyrics are all different and I can't sing along in my head like I usually do b/c I love this song so hard. Anyway, as a bonus, here's Elliott's performance on the Oscars, which is equally worth your time watching, if only for it's pop culture historical relevance.

Labels: , ,

Carrie at 5/11/2007

2comments

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Excuse me. What???

Ok, so I don't want to make every post about TV, but unless you want to hear me whine about how poorly I played poker this weekend or how horrible my work trip to Columbus was on Tuesday, this is pretty much it for now.

But regardless, last night's Lost deserves some discussion anyway. What the hell? Was that Lost I was watching, or did I tune into an episode of Carnivale? Overall I'm rating very favorably, but that doesn't mean I'm not scratching my head in confusion.

Ok, that's all I can think of for now. I probably have a million more questions, but interviews don't transcribe themselves, unfortunately for me.

Labels: ,

Carrie at 5/10/2007

3comments

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

So this is motown.



As a Detroit sports fan, there are certain things you come to expect. Look at the beginning of LAST sports year. You expected the Lions to be very not good. You expected the Wings to make a run in the playoffs. You expected the Tigers to suck once again. You expected the Pistons to make it to the NBA finals. Some good but mostly bad, none of those things really happened (except for the Lions of course...but don't worry I'm predicting 6 wins this year. Whoopee).

But 2007 "feels" different. The Wings just advanced last night to the Western Conference finals in a tough series that many predicted the Sharks would win. The Pistons spanked the Bulls again last night and they're playing better basketball than any other team in the NBA this postseason even though nobody's talking about it. The Tigers are competing in their division, just a half game back from the Indians. Hell, I just saw The Shock on a box of Wheaties at Kroger yesterday.

And ESPN is devoting 75% of their coverage to Roger Clemens and the Lakers offseason possibilities. Whatever. I'm used to it. We're all used to it.

I don't mean to brag, but it's good to be a sports fan in Detroit, and I mean it this time. Let's just hope when the Pistons take on the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals I don't need to compose any more disappointed letters like I did last year...

PS. Enjoy Curtis Granderson's blog.

paul at 5/08/2007

1comments

Monday, May 07, 2007

The end is near: Sopranos wish list and more.

So, as I watched The Sopranos last night I decided that I really, really want to see Paulie die before the show is over. Paul completely disagrees with me, but for the last couple of weeks, whenever the show starts I hope maybe this will be the week when someone whacks Paulie. On a show full of irredeemable characters, I find Paulie to be a vile human being. One that I love to hate, of course, but hate all the same.

What else do I want? I guess I want Tony to find a least one small moment of happiness before whatever inevitable ending the show has for him. Holding a grandchild (although that doesn't look likely), realizing his full love of his wife, having a real fatherly moment, something. I also think I'd rather see Tony die in a blaze of glory than rot in jail. Which probably means he'll end up rotting in jail, which is unfortunate.

I don't know what I'd want for everyone else. Christopher's too much of a loose canon these days for me to speculate. I'm most fearful of his ending- he's got tragedy written all over him. But I do know that if the series ends with Sil doing something besides happily running the Bing, I'm gonna be sad.

In other show-ending news, I'm happy to read reports about this new Lost format. I like that the show has a defined end date. I like the shortened seasons- I think the writers will make better use of the time and we'll have less boring filler episodes, if this spring's run of stellar episodes is any indication. I am sad that it's not going to be back on until next winter, but I better get used to that, as it seems like all shows are going that way. I just hope there's going to be something exciting for me to watch in the fall with Battlestar and Lost not coming back 'til January.

Carrie at 5/07/2007

1comments

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Monty says "Happy Cinco de Mayo"!!!


Monty says "Happy Cinco de Mayo"!!!
Originally uploaded by hribarca.

Carrie at 5/05/2007

0comments

Friday, May 04, 2007

Friday funny.

I'm feeling uninspired as to posting at the moment, so I thought I'd put up one of my favorite Office moments from the last few weeks.



Identity theft is not a joke, Jim!

Yeah, that's pretty much it.

Labels:

Carrie at 5/04/2007

0comments

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

So...

So, my office temperature has been bi-polar lately. Yesterday, I'm practically suffocating in the afternoon it's so hot and muggy. (Of course, I refuse to open my door and potentially interact with any of the countless people making copies of final exams.) Today, it's freezing. I've currently got a blanket draped over my legs and am wishing I had socks. I hate this. I wish there was some consistency so I would know how to dress. I know you care.

So, I had a lame-o salad for lunch because I'm going to successfully diet if it kills me, while the rest of my office is eating reheated KFC from yesterdays potluck and now the entire office smells like fried chicken, which is not helping my growly stomach AT ALL, damnit.

So, I'm currently going through a pile of cover letters and resumes since we're finally hiring for the other position on my grant (my old job- the renamed data anlyst position) and I am heading the search committee, and I'm kind of dismayed at the quality of applications I recieved. Not because there's nothing promising in there, there's a few, but because I can't help but compare myself to them. If this is the type of applications people send out regularly, then why have I not had more success on the job front? It looks like people put as much thought into these applications as I do a blog post.

Boo. I stress so much over job applications whenever I send them out because I'm sure one little mistake or sentence wording somewhere in there is what's keeping people from having interest in me. Ok, not like I've sent that many out lately b/c I still feel like I'm in a position where I can be a little picky, but it's the principle. Maybe I just feel like these are slightly less than stellar b/c this is an entry-level position. I just know that when I got hired for this job, I put a hell of a lot more thought into this than these people have.

Sorry, don't mean to complain too much. Lost is new tonight, I get to see friends and family this weekend, and it's not supposed to rain for the next 6 days- that's just a small list of things I'm happy about!

Carrie at 5/02/2007

2comments

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Well done, Heroes. Well done.

I can't stop thinking about last night's Heroes (seriously, I even dreamed about some post-apocalytpic saving the world crap last night), so I thought I'd quickly knock off some thoughts before I have to go help proctor an exam. (Yawn.)

Anyway, kudos Tim Kring and Co. I haven't been so excited by an episode of television since the first season of Lost.

Labels: , ,

Carrie at 5/01/2007

4comments