Belated Friday Fun & Games

Ack. I originally wrote this post last Fri, but the fates conspired against my getting it onto the web. So here you go; a belated post on some of my current fave things.

AB is not looking good this week, by the way. Sorry to be such a tease about it and keep delivering empty promises, but it's beyond my control. NEVER let the president's wife of the university you sorta work for come up with a brilliant idea for your non-profit client, which YOU then have to implement in the space of two months; it will drive you insane, wreck all your other deadlines, and make you feel guilty when you take a sanity break, like I am doing right now. Just a word of warning to innocent designers out there; learn from my suffering and just run away, fast, when this type of problem springs up. You will be happier for it. Okay, rant over.

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No AB today. I had invitation deadlines, the cleaning of my house in prep for getting a larger bed moved in, newly planted thyme in my backyard to nurture, and a meeting in which I had to present all the printed materials I've put out in the past year. And all this in the same week! So my days at work and home were equaly frantic; poor lil' AB guys just couldn't compete. Next week should be smoother, I swear.

So to compensate, I will instead post some of my fave new and old links and stories I've come across that have been brightening my days lately, in the few spare moments I have.

:: Eddie Izzard ::

As I have mentioned in the last post (?), Eddie Izzard is my new crush. (I love his new look; he is one of the few men in the world who look fantastic with facial hair.) And typing in his name at YouTube reveals a plethora of fun clips. Some of my faves: 90's Eddie ruling the Ambassadors with floppy hair, Eddie doing a Monty Python skit with Alan Rickman, Eddie with the not-so-full Monty Pythons, Eddie being awesome on talk shows, and pieces of his great standup from his DVD's, listed below. (I love that he got the humor of Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" quote, the mistake in semantics which all people who have taken or speak German know, and has made it really funny. But instead of just calling it a donut I would call it a jelly-filled donut, as that is closer to the truth. Just splitting hairs here.)

:: The cunning use of Flags
:: Stars Wars Canteen
:: Ich Bin Ein Berliner
:: Religion
:: Comic Aid Stint

:: Warped Tour ::

I only attend punk shows with Leeshee, as she lends my punk/goth poser-ness some credibility, so missed it this year. Sad to not see Joan Jett and other cool acts perform, but will get over it eventually. The thing am saddest about missing? The tribute to the Ramones at Tent World and getting to talk to their actual creative director/designer.

:: My Chemical Comic ::

Speaking of awesome goth bands at Warped Tour, the lead singer of My Chemical Romance is jumping into the fad of stars making comics and is writing one of his own, which will possibly come out next year.

:: Harry Potter Podcast ::

Because there are about a bzillion of Harry Potter Podcasts out there, I have been waiting to subscribe to them until I find a good one. And lo and behold, Scholastic has a podcast of discussions with the big web site HP afficianados, in which they discuss and ruminate on the plots set up by book 6.

:: Adult Swim Fixes ::

This is a site I keep checking back to, because it is awesome. (I'm sure everyone has already ben here at least once, so I am listing it just to list it.) The preview podcasts at iTunes are funny (What's Inuyasha up to now?), and best of all you can preview shows early before they officially air.

:: Venture Brothers ::

While I wait impatiently for new episodes to air, there are great episode summaries and trivia explanations at the Wiki, clips from the episodes at YouTube, and of course great Venture stuff like wallpapers at Adult Swim. Make sure to download the MP3's of The Monarch's phone calls he placed while in jail, which are legitimate VB canon.

:: Jeeves and Wooster ::

This show is on PBS in the late-night British comedies section, and it is hysterical! (But I actually like British humor; those who don't will wince throughout the entire show I'm sure.) Not only do I get to learn where the Jeeves from "Ask Jeeves" came from (who I miss, btw), but get to see a young and very funny Hugh Laurie (he of "Sense and Sensibility" and "House" fame) being very funny, callous yet endearing as is his trademark style of characterization. It wasn't on this week, but I hope it returns soon.