El Gaffney

Inbox of Immaturity

As I hit an unsuspecting young lady sitting on the step outside my apt with the door this morning, I knew it would be an immature Friday. Just like the iPhone line up a few weeks ago, Harry Potter had a line wrapped around Broadway from the Barnes and Noble on 17th waiting anxiously for the new book. Meanwhile, VH1’s bestweekever.tv catches us up on the celeb gossip.

Like last week another great but very different mashup: House Of 1,000 Muppets

May I present to you the AMI – St. Louis loves three things, baseball, beer, and b-mustaches. After all, it is “home to the world’s largest mustache, the SL Arch.” (Thanks Jake)

A pretty awesome music video starring some ex-Nickelodeon stars on Leland’s blog

A kind of sad story but appropriate ad placement for Shaq’s new reality show.

An regression for Dunkin Donuts SoBe drink. (I drink D&D too. I used to wear corduroy pants.) Check out the new Naomi Campbell spot directed by Zach Braff as well. From Hill Holiday.

Finally, Phillipines Prison Thriller. They do Sister Act as well.

Tags: celebs, ioi, movies

Word of the Week: Sexy-Ugly

Every so often you get a peek into vocabulary of your female counterparts, The Gen wYmen. Granted I’m very late to this and it’s probably not the insider info you were hoping for, but I feel it’s my job to keep other Gen GuYs in the know. Thus, I present, “sexy-ugly.”

Sexy-Ugly (adj.)
Someone who is not conventionally good-looking (or any kind of good-looking in some cases), but possesses an appealing personality, style, or talent, and is thus considered sexually attractive by many. -urbandictionary.com

This term was first dropped like it was hot in the movie Kissing Jessica Stein. Mick Jagger is her example. The flick chicks have a vote going with Edward Norton beating out Adrian Brody for the top spot.

Our equivalent may be a SJP (Sarah Jessica Parker) – if you don’t know that acronym, I can’t help you. But overall I don’t think sexy-ugly translates that well in our male vocabs. (No, not because we can’t grunt it.) Perhaps sexy-bitchy is more real. OMG, SMG is SB – Oh my god, Sarah Michelle Gellar is sexy bitchy. You’d say that – right Jay? Maybe we can all agree on sexy-rich – Oprah and Bill Gates?

So you may never hear it but if nothing else, dropping a Kissing Jessica Stein reference on your latest fling will offset the carpenter jeans you rocked on the last date. Good luck out there.

Tags: celebs, genY, vocabulary

First Movie Review

Yesterday’s plan was to catch up on sleep, work out and go see Glory Road with a friend. 2 out of 3 happened. So when my friend bailed on the bball movie, I was faced with some new decisions. And the process went: Really want to see a movie, what’s playing close, do I really want to see any of those, yes, do I want to see that one alone, hell yes. So I went to see Brokeback Mountain last night… and saw it solo, which I believe is the way to go for a straight 24 year old guy. (I wouldn’t know about 25 though.) Also, if you happen to catch E!’s The Soup, you’ll see an amazing skit on marketing the movies to men – “a movie with no gay monkeys.” The long and short of it (no pun intended): Definitely recommend, not just because it’s up for an Oscar, but it’s a great story, terrifically acted (and I think as a straight male, you can appreciate how difficult it would be to make your man love believable, and especially not overact), and thoroughly interesting and exhausting.

That’s all I’ve got. I’m an awful critic. If I really was one I’d use bad puns (see above) or quotes from other (and often unrelated) movies and shows to critique (i.e. I wish I had 4 hands so I could give that movie 4 thumbs up). Thus, rather than provide a plot summary, note on symbolism or a social commentary, I’ll stick to what caught me most – the beauty and serenity of the actual geography – and how it positively changed my perception of Wyoming. I remember wanting to hit up a ranch after City Slickers. Now I’m not just aware of Wyoming, but am compelled to put this type of travel (lake and mountain America) into my vacation consideration set. And it seems I’m not the only one… http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2006-01-30-brokeback-tourism_x.htm

Who cares if it was shot in Canada? I’m already sold on Wyoming. And just so you know The Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 are being filmed in The Bahamas… at least one or two scenes.

Tags: celebs, movies, popculture, reviews

Deep Thought for the Night

I just arrived in Santiago, Chile a couple hours ago to find that the hotel did not have my reservation. Rather than tell them how incompetent they were (which would have forced me to speak in English for maximum impact), I took a deep breath, spoke Spanish and got myself a room in what had minutes before been a “completamente lleno” (full) hotel. Earlier last week in Brazil I witnessed an angry American guest complaining (in English) that she could not understand how the entire hotel did not have a iron and she’d have to pay $4US (8.something Reais) to have her pants pressed. Before checking out today, I watched the same receptionist give an iron to a Brazilian guest. Let me be Reverend Run for a hot second (though it’s not easy without laying in a candle-surrounded bubble-filled bathtub). Sure speaking the local language makes a difference. But your body movements, tone (not Loc), volume, and general demeanor can make a bigger statement. There’s an international language… and it’s called respect. Do you remember how Doogie Howser used to end his shows with a lesson learned/recap? More importantly, how about NPH’s comeback? And what’s Max Casella been up to lately? (Yes I had to look up his last name, but I knew it was something like that.) I’ll try and catch up on a couple Rio days and nights tomorrow.

Tags: celebs, chile, hotels, travel