100 Days as President in photos

via Gawker

All the way back in November, when the first images of election night and Obama's victory were posted on his Flickr account, I sat at my desk at work and actually cried.  And now, today, the White House has uploaded over 200 images of his first 100 days in office and again things got a little dusty here in the office.  Seriously, I do not know what it is about him that makes me feel so overwhelmed with emotion, but he gets me every single time.  And, it's nice to know that -- unlike after Bush's first days in office -- my faith in his capabilities has not yet wavered and I can still be inspired.

Little Monsters

Not too long ago, I decided it would be a great idea to sign up for Netflix.  It seems like a solid investment considering I've only seen about -5% of all movies ever released and often find myself in a conversation that goes something like this:

Me: Oh, I'm sorry, I've actually never seen that movie.

Asshat friend: WHAT? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?  Are you AMERICAN?

And, so far, it has been a worthy investment.  However, I've found that my movie turnover rate is much higher when I alternate the DVDs in my queue to go from movie I need to see to movie that I feel very nostalgic for.  And thus, my viewing of the 1989 movie that no one else has probably ever seen (are YOU people American, hmm?), but which stars a very young and cute Fred Savage and Howie Mandel, Little Monsters.

I don't even know how this movie was introduced to me -- perhaps by neighbors who had some children older than me or the TBS Superstation -- but I can remember watching is all the time when I was younger.  It is just so 80s fabulous, to the point where my roommate called out from her room, "wow, that is some serious 80s music going on in that movie," and, even though the characters sometimes say things like bitch and shit, it actually seems to be a sort of cautionary tale for children.  Now, I can't wait to watch the 1961 version of Babes in Toyland, a movie which I am almost positive I will be able to quickly recall all the lyrics to.  

In starlight you came from the other side

Since it's release early this year, I have been absolutely loving the latest album from Antony and The Johnsons, The Crying Light.  It's an emotional and supreme album, one that would, I'm sure, utterly fail if it were not for Antony Hegarty's masterful voice and tone.  Sometimes, when I'm listening to it I will find that I'm on the verge of tears because there is something about it that is just so affecting, and this video of them performing One Dove for a Dutch television show is pitch perfect, just be sure to skip forward to around the 2:40 mark when the host finally shuts the hell up.

It's Blitz

The latest Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, It's Blitz!, is, in my opinion, their best album to date.  I think I love it so much because Karen O suggested Nick Zinner lay off the sweet guitar riffs and do some synth and keyboard work, a suggestion that has made this album utterly dance-inspiring from start to finish.  Seriously, I have barely listened to any other music since It's Blitz! came out a few weeks ago.  

While the above spot-on performance from last week's SNL really captures the more up-tempo lovability of the album, I also find myself skipping forward to Hysteric and listening to it several times in a row.  Karen sounds ethereal on this track and I find it romantic in a way similar to Maps but just way, way better (unless you consider some Maps remixes, a few of which are kind of perfect).  Hope you enjoy it, too.

Hysteric - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Reasons to be Pretty

Holy shit this play is good, y'all. Reasons to be Pretty is, hands down, the best thing I've seen on Broadway since Boeing Boeing late last summer.  (Since then I've seen a number of mostly disappointing plays, including Hedda Gabler and, unfortunately, Equus, with Speed the Plow being a highlight due in large part to Raul Esparza's fantastic improv)  It was laugh out loud funny—so funny that the elderly people in my section shushed me—and just generally emotionally spot on.  It felt like something that was written for and acted by my generation.  At the surface, it is a play about the necessity to be seen as pretty, or beautiful or, really, anything other than "regular."  But as you dig deeper, it becomes a coming of age play in which the main characters realize that their lives are less happy and fulfilling than they wanted to believe (here, it reminded me of a more humorous and way less depressing Revolutionary Road) and uncovers how they, in general, fuck everything up trying to get out of their current states of being.  

Discount tickets for the show surprisingly abound, so do yourself a favor and go see it.  Laugh, want to cry and, at the end, take the subway home, surrounded by billboards and advertisements full of people who are exceptionally beautiful, and think about how easy it actually can be to find the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Fuerza Bruta

Last night I saw the long-running show in Union Square, Fuerza Bruta.  In my head, this show was always akin to Blue Man Group or Stomp.  You know, something that only tourists come to see, but that, as a real New Yorker, I'm too good for.  Plus, on a past cycle of America's Next Top Model, Tyra had all the models do some ridiculous photo shoot based on the show that was so atrocious as to make me totally apathetic to the whole thing in general.  I mean, if Tyra is going crazy over something, that something has to be nearly as equally batshit crazy as Tyra herself.  But, thanks to my roommate, Caroline, and her hookups in the theater world, we were able to score some free tix to last night's performance, and boy was it better than anything I could have anticipated.  It's just basically people doing absolutely insane things, with a DJ playing pretty ridiculous Euro trash-sounding music.  Really, it's just very hard to explain, so instead I'll leave it to the experts and direct you to the trailer for the show:

To be honest, I have no idea what any of it is actually about.  And after reading about it, I still don't know if I get it, but it was so different and so much more interesting than any sort of traditional theater I've seen in a long time (I'm looking at you, Hedda Gabler) and it was a breath of much-needed fresh air.  

Though, I did get really pissed at the man standing next to me during the wild embryonic fluid-esque inflatable pool part.  See, they lower this giant kiddie pool from the ceiling to such a low height that you can reach up with your hands and touch the clear plastic as the actors (?) sort of splish splash around, sliding all over the place.  Of course, all the actors are scantily-clad, soaking wet women and this man took it upon him self to actually attempt to grope their bodies through the plastic, full on touching their bathing suit areas and being very vocal about how exciting he found it.  Yeah, I wanted to punch him.  

Regardless, it was fun and only a little over an hour so the novelty of the concept didn't really wear too thin.  I don't know that I'd recommend anyone to pay the full price ($75) for a ticket, but if you find yourself with the opportunity to get a highly discounted or free ticket, you should definitely go see it.  Just make sure you have four vodka sodas before you do.

Newest addition to my Google Reader

Cute and Cuter.  Seriously y'all:  

Old school dream boat Paul Newman and a puppy!  And this is just one of the many overwhelmingly precious entries.