Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Current obsessions

(it's been awhile since i've made a list)

(i mean, other than the several dozen lists I made in the comments thread for the Dancer in the Dark post, um, two posts ago)

(anyway) (here's another list)

THINGS I'M OBSESSED WITH RIGHT NOW:

(in no particular order)

(1) the tuna sandwiches at Quiznos
(2) the songs of Regina Spektor
(3) root beer
(4) figuring out a way to punk Jesse to get him back for creating the busboy
(5) figuring out a way to get to London
(6) facial hair
(7) the Grateful Dead (I'm late to the party on this one)
(8) trying to give up root beer (trying to give up all soda, actually)
(9) Snakes on a Plane
(10) cleaning out my trunk (I'm not really obsessed with this) (I'm trying to trick myself into thinking I'm obsessed with this) (so that I might actually do it)

UPDATE/ADDENDUM:

Remember New Thing #64: The Power of Saying Shit Out Loud? It keeps proving itself. I need to remember #64 more often, because when you say what you want out loud, just by saying it, you're putting it out into the air and that shit really does get heard.

Like, case in point: I wrote up the above list and one of the things that I mentioned on the list was that I'm currently obsessed with Regina Spektor's music and then, boom, Regina's Spektor's people got in touch with me. Say it and shit happens. Seriously.

I just got an email from one of her PR people telling me they stumbled across my blog (searching for "Regina Spektor" on google, no doubt) (all hail google) and they wanted to let me know that her new album comes out on June 13 (thank you, I'm so there) and they gave me links to her new video (Quicktime version and Windows version). Unfortunately, for some reason (probably because I'm a computer idiot) I can't watch the video--I don't have the current version of Quicktime on my computer, so I can never watch anything on Quicktime, and the Windows version isn't working for me either, but hopefully it will work for you and you should watch it and join the Regina Spektor Rocks Club. (Thank you Sonya for the links.)

Then, when I couldn't watch the video, I started hankering for a Regina Spektor video and so I went to youtube (all hail youtube) to see if I could find one there, and that's when I stumbled across THIS. It's a family Christmas video someone put together (I have no idea of the videographer is a man or a woman), with the following description: "My family's 2005 Christmas Eve celebration to the tune of Regina Spektor's 'Us.'" That's it, that's all. But it's so great.

Now, first of all, "Us" is a great song. But there was something that really struck me about watching this stranger's family video footage with the song. It's really simple and personal and you can feel the love and I felt like I was getting a private little glimpse at the person's life and I found it really moving, so I wanted to share it here. (CLINK ME.)

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

First!

PAM

(Said I wouldn't play this game, but I lied.)

Anonymous said...

PAM, I'm disappointed.

Ok Erik.

(1) the tuna sandwiches at Quiznos
-Don't you remember the great flaming shit train of '05 that resulted from said food item?

(2) the songs of Regina Spektor
Wasn't Grey's sooo amazing with her music in it on Sunday, that episode DESTROYED me.

(3) root beer
ICB? or A&W? ICB in the bottle is so good.

(4) figuring out a way to punk Jesse to get him back for creating the busboy
-You have much to learn young grasshopper.

(5) figuring out a way to get to London
-it's hard enough to get you to come LA.

(6) facial hair
-The hipster beard?

(7) the Grateful Dead (I'm late to the party on this one)
-Speaking of too much facial hair.

(8) trying to give up root beer (trying to give up all soda, actually)
-I hope you didn't find ICB in a bottle.

(9) Snakes on a Plane
-Speaking of hipster snake movies.

(10) cleaning out my trunk (I'm not really obsessed with this) (I'm trying to trick myself into thinking I'm obsessed with this) (so that I might actually do it)
-The best line in Wonder Boys, did anylike that movie, besides me??? Is the thing about the trunk of his car, "Holding a suit case, a tuba and a dead dog."

Anonymous said...

PAM -- you only want to play if you win. I'm familiar with your kind!

Um, anything that involves a "flaming shit train of '05" does not sound like anything that anyone would ever want to repeat. Oh wait, except for someone who ELECTROCUTED HIMSELF IN THE SAME EXACT WAY 3 TIMES IN A ROW.

Jesse -- did that shit train have any link to the Dave Mathews band shit train that landed on a tour boat in Chicago?

christy said...

I didn't read this. But I wanted to claim 4th. Before I pass out.

I'll read it tomorrow. I swear.

I have nothing left to prove.

Bonnie said...

Hee! Babes got drunk tonight! Hee!

Anonymous said...

With ya on the Regina... I listened to "Us" and "Chemo Limo" 46 and 38 times in a row (respectively) last Wednesday. They are impossible to sing, by the way. Have you tried?

And here's a good tip for weaning yourself off the soda... replace it first with Knudsen's Spritzers (sweetened with fruit juice-- can get 'em at a health food store), then go to Low-Cal Spritzers, then go to seltzer with a squeeze of lemon or lime. Then you will be PURE ROCK-AND-ROLL.

Anonymous said...

I (heart) the tuna sandwiches at Quiznos!

I am EXTREMELY distressed to hear about any great flaming shit train associated with said food item!

Erik said...

PAM: You LOVE this game.

JESSE: several things...let's see...first of all, i don't know why i'm doing more than one comment in one comment...i just had an allergy related sneezy fit and there was snot everywhere, so i blame that for messing with my equilibrium...anyway, i'm enjoying using elipses...so...OK, YES, i know all about the great flaming shit train of '05, but i would like to point out, for those blog readers who don't know about the great flaming shit train of '05, that it was YOUR great flaming shit train that was caused by the Quizno's tuna sandwich, and not MINE, and i STILL fucking LOVE the tuna sandwich at Quiznos, so, well, there...now (2): Grey's was a really good one on Sunday...(3 & 8) any and all root beer (and even Dr. Pepper, which people keep telling me IS NOT root beer, but which tastes like root beer to me nonetheless)...re: (4): YOU ARE GOING DOWN, BITCH (in, like, a year, after you've forgotten that YOU ARE GOING DOWN, BITCH)...(5) eh...(6) I should have been more specific about my obsession with facial hair, I'm really only obsessed with my own (though scruff on a guy is absolutely sexy)...what's the hipster beard? (was that the most unhip question?)...(7) Jesse, I imagine your mom is a deadhead, am I right or what?...(9) I know that you've said you're "over" the Snakes on a Plane hype, Jesse, but I think you were into it for a while and I'm hoping it will continue long enough for you to get over being over it and get back under it (or motherfucking whatever) because if there is a Santa Clause, then he will help Snakes on a Plane become a bigger movie than Mission Impossible 3 this summer...simply because, how funny would that be?...(10) i loved Wonder Boys too, you're not alone.

ELEANOR: I always forget about the time when I ELECTROCUTED MYSELF IN THE SAME EXACT WAY 3 TIMES IN A ROW. I always blame my occasionally bad memory on a stroke I think I had in the middle of the night sometime, but maybe it's linked to the time I ELECTROCUTED MYSELF IN THE SAME EXACT WAY 3 TIMES IN A ROW. Interesting.

BABES (CHRISTY): I'm eighth. You get a prize when you're comment #69. That's the golden comment. But you know that.

BONBON: :)

SHEILA: "Us" is one of the best songs ever. And yes, her songs ARE impossible to sing, and YES, i have tried, but, well, I kinda can't sing ANY songs, like, I think I might have a condition that makes it almost impossible for me to sing along to songs, or, if (let's be honest here: when) I do sing along to songs (which is just about always) I can never quite sing along to them right. But Regina Spektor is particularly difficult to sing along to because her songs are so weird (in a good way)...I also really love the song "Poor Little Rich Boy"...and I love the song "Music Box"...and I really love that you listened to those songs so many times in a row...and I completely believe that you honestly did listen to those songs so many times in a row...the last time I listened to a song that many times in a row was Imogene Heap's "Hide and Seek"...I'm really excited that you left a comment on my blog...Do you remember when we met after CRAWL?...I told you I would send you an email telling you how much I loved your play and I don't think I ever sent that email, but I really loved your play.

ANGELA: Aren't the tuna subs the best? Seriously, I crave them, and I crave them, and I crave them. They must put something really bad in them because I cannot get enough. Even knowing that they once gave Jesse a great flaming shit train (if I remember correctly, he had diahrea [which I've never been able to spell correctly] for three days after eating a tuna sub at Quiznos). But whatever. I once had a cockroach experience at my favorite Mongolian BBQ and I still go there because it's so dang good. (It's one of those places where you get a bowl of raw meat and put veggies on it and sauces and then you wait in line while they cook it for you, and the woman in front of me in line noticed that there was a cockroach literally PERCHED ON the garlic cannister, and she started to freak out and she looked at the cook and pointed to the garlic cannister all freaked, and he didn't understand what she was saying (because she wasn't saying anything, she was just freaking and pointing) and he didn't see the cockroach and he grabbed the garlic cannister and poured garlic (and cockroach) into her cooking food and then she had a real fit, and then the situation was cleared up and I think I explained that a cockroach had just been put into the food (because she was, like, hyperventilating by now) and they cleared her food and cleaned the stovetop and then, without a beat, I put some garlic on my bowl and gave it to them to cook. BECAUSE IT'S THAT DAMN GOOD. Cockroaches be damned. And I haven't had the flaming shit train experience from the tuna at Quizno's, but even if I HAD had it, I think I might be like "flaming shit train be damned." Because it's that damn good.

Erik said...

Urp:

--the layer thing is definitely a lifestyle choice. (and, no, it's not new, but there's nothing to say you can't be obsessed with things FOREVER) (hell, i'm still obsessed with Michael J. Fox and that obsession's been around for a good 16 years or so)

--stop talking about Mickey D's. i'm trying to eat healthier! (not that Quizno's is particularly healthy) (but i'm trying) (that story about flies is gross)

--i love that you are addicted. HA! i guess you're kind of legally obligated to be addicted, but still. (do you LIKE ME like me?)

--the first rule of the My Year of New Things Drinking Game is that whenever someone says "eleanor's boobies," WE ALL MUST DRINK!

--speaking of soaps, I haven't watched One Life To Live in a really long time...is Todd still on the lam?...is Blaire still shacking up with that ASSHOLE???...or have they gotten gloriously back together again?>???

--i'm okay with critters in my glass. i figure, they're there anyway, even if we can't see them. CRITTERS ARE EVERYWHERE.

--(there really isn't a right or a wrong way to use these things) (well, ok, actually, yes, there is) (but i don't judge) (cuz i don't even really always use 'em correctly)

Anonymous said...

snakes on a plane is now on my own list of movies i most want to see this summer. i'm so there.

Erik said...

We must do our part to make Snakes on a Plane the #1 MOVIE OF THE SUMMER! Come on people! Aimie and I are in! (Rock on.) (Did you go to the wikipedia page? How awesome is the lore of Snakes on a Plane?)

Anonymous said...

Um...I had never heard of "Snakes on a Plane" until today...

...and I thought, well surely, it can't literally be a movie about snakes on a plane...

...and lo and behold, IT IS.

I'm so on board.

Erik said...

Angela, I love that you said you're "on board." I have been following the Snakes on a Plane buzz for quite some time and I cannot wait. I think it's gonna rock. I mean, how can you go wrong with a movie called "Snakes on a Plane" that is literally about "Snakes on a Plane." It's solid gold. I'm thinking of having a Snakes on a Plane birthday party, since it opens ten days after my birthday.

Anonymous said...

You're hellof famous.
Lindsay

Anonymous said...

helluv?

Erik said...

I've heard both hella and helluv (which I think looks better than hellof) (even though hellof should be correct, because that's what people actually say) (but I'm not sure if there's an official "correct" answer, since we're talking about slang here).

I think that people who are from NorCal say "helluv" and people who are from anywhere else say "hella." (But the word originated in NorCal, so you're representing with your "uv" ending.)

Interestingly enough, the urban slang dictionary contradicts many of the things I just said. First of all, it spells the word as two words "hell of," and second, though it has no listing for the word "hella," it uses the word quite prominently in its definition of "hell of."

Here are the two definitions in the Urban Slang Dick:

1. hell of

The phrase that the word hella is the contraction of. Hell of means the same thing as hella, but it conveys more emphasis. It is always the most stressed word in the sentence.

EXAMPLE: It's hell of fucked up that his mom died.

by blair Apr 12, 2004

2. hell of

a new variation of the norcal "hella".. usually employed by those more in tune with modern street lingo. common to san luis obispo, livermore, and chico.

EXAMPLE: "that was a hell of sick set that tiesto spun at spundae"

"i hell of houdini'd chris' mom after she refused to make me potstickers."

by langan Apr 29, 2003

Bonnie said...

re: --the first rule of the My Year of New Things Drinking Game is that whenever someone says "eleanor's boobies," WE ALL MUST DRINK!

I am sooooooo into this!

Anonymous said...

Who is this Eleanor, with the helluv fly rack?

Adam and Lindsay
(and yes, we're both drinking)

Erik said...

Hey Adam and Lindsay, are you still drinking? Because if you are, "eleanor's boobies."

Erik said...

so did you guys drink, or what?

Anonymous said...

Erik that video is beautiful! So simple and you just cant stop watching it. And now I want to make one of my own, of my family.

Thanks for the clink!

-Komal

Anonymous said...

The video made me cry. It catches a family so beautifully. Everyone looks so much alike. It is a glimpse into strangers' lives that feels like it could be my family or Every Family. It is obviously made with a lot of love. PAM got all sentimental, but hey.

Erik said...

Komal and PAM,

That video just kills me. I'm glad you guys watched it. I've literally watched it ten times already. I cannot stop. And Komal, I agree, it makes me want to weild a video camera at the next family gathering as well.

drc said...

Okay...I have become obsessed with this blog and Bonnie's blog. I am soooo disapointed when you don't write anything!

Anonymous said...

Erik,

People in NoCal say "hella." Us SoCalers hate them for it.

Anonymous said...

Joe:

Dude. It's "NorCal." Please go ahead and call the city where I work "Frisco" so my head will explode.

Still feeling hecka love for the blog even though it's been helluv long since we took the pictures for the hella special blog post.
Shit, I'm even feeling hecksa love for it.
Lindsay

Kyle said...

You know Regina either recently played or is soon to play the El Rey, right? Seems like I saw it on the marquis not too long ago. I saw her open for The Strokes a couple of years ago. Seems like I thought she was fun. She was certainly better than The Strokes. I want that 40 bucks back!

Erik said...

Joe, Lindsay is right, it's NorCal with an "r."

Erik said...

Lindsay, I just haven't had time to make that blog post as brilliant as it want to (needs to) be. I mean, it's already brilliant, because the pictures themselves are brilliant. It'll be up soon.

Erik said...

Regina Spektor is way better than the strokes. But as much as I love her, I can't imagine her concert being better than the Scissor Sisters concert I went to a few years ago (or a year ago) at the Wiltern. That shit was hecksa dope.

christy said...

Okay but keep in mind Erik, when you meet my mom it's got to be golly-gee-whiza dope-but-not-like-drugs-dope.

Then she'll think you're a real nice boy.

Anonymous said...

I'm not saying that you guys are wrong. But wouldn't it make more sense to call it NoCal, so it matched SoCal? I'm just saying.

Hey, I'm going to Frisco this weekend.

christy said...

joe, that comment is deeply entrenched in "SoCal" philosophy.

in frisco, no one cares about conforming to precedents established by SoCal.

(and it only rains after sundown.)

Bonnie said...

Oooh, thanks DRC!! I'll do my best to keep you happy with my silly blog. Heeeee! A fan! Yay!

(Oh, hi KiKi. Hee hee.)

Erik said...

Oh Christy, don't you worry, i AM a nice boy. Your mom is going to love me.

Erik said...

Joe, maybe you aren't saying that we're wrong, but we ARE saying that you are.

However, I can see why you want to make all of the NorCalians bend to your will and start saying NoCal instad of NorCal--because then you'd be, like, God of the NorCalians. (Or, rather, if you were their God, they would probably be known as the NoCalians.)

Erik said...

drc, i missed your comment before...THANK YOU! I love that you're obsessed with my blog and BonBon's blog. i definitley TRY to post every day, and sometimes i'm pretty miserable at posting every day, but between me and Bonnie I would imagine you get satisfaction MOST days!

I will try to post every day, though, since I have an audience that craves me!

Erik said...

Hi BonBon! (I accidentally typed BonBob, which made me giggle, for no real reason other than BonBob is a really ridiculous name)

Bonnie said...

Not as crazy (sorry... krazi) as BobBob. That'd be the best silly name ever. Just sayin'!

Anonymous said...

I had a camp counselor whose nickname was CathBob. Really - CathBob. And it totally stuck for years and years. To this day I get confused if someone refers to her as Catherine.
Lindsay-bob

Erik said...

You know how Ivana Trump's daughter is named Ivanka? I've always thought that was really weird. I mean, it's one thing to give your kid your own name and then add a "jr" or a "the second" or a "the third" or whatever, but it's another thing entirely to randomly add a "k" to their own name and give it to their kid.

I mean, what if we all did that?

Like, what if I had a son and named him Erikk? What if Lindsay had a daughter and named her Lindsayk? What if Bonnie had a daughter and named her Bonniek? What if Christy had a daughter and named her Christinka? What if Uma had a kid and named her Kuma? What if Joe had a son and named him Joke? Or Jesse had a Jessek? Or Eleanor had a Keleanor? Or an Eleanork? Or if Angela kept her last name when she got married and named her first born Kangela Kang? Or if Aimie had a kid name Kamie? Or if Komal named a kid Komalk? Or if Marie named her kid Marike? Or if Bo had a son named Bok? Or what if Boom Boom Becca named her daughter Boom Boom Beccak? Or, along the same lines, if Rebecca had a daughter and named her Krebecca? Or if Steve had a son named Stevek? (I could go on and on.) (And I will.) What if my dad had another kid (don't get any ideas) and named him Victork??? Or if my mom decided to have another kid (seriously, no ideas) and it was a girl and she named the girl Pakm? (Even though PAM isn't my mom's real name, "Pakm" is funnier than Shekrry. It just is.) Or if Colleen had a daughter named Kcolleen? Or Colleenk? Or Collkeen? Or Colkleen? Colleken???? Or if Jenny had a daughter named Kjenny (but with Kjenny, you just know it would be a silent "k")? Or if Jessica had a daughter named Jkessica (and the "k" WAS NOT silent!)? Or if Tina had a daughter named Tinka? Or if Patrick had a son named Patrikck? Or what if Adam had a daughter and named her Adamka! Or what if Nichole had a daughter named Nichkole? Or if Michael Hartney had a son name Michakel? Or if drc named a kid dkrc??? Or if Doug had a son named Doukg? Or if Dave had a son named Dkave? Or if Robert had a son named Krobert???? Or if Kyle had a son name Kkyle????? Or if Sianie had a kid name Siankie? Or if Ingrid had a daughter name Kingrid and then when he wanted to rebel as a teenager he would add a hyphen to the middle of his name and tell people to bow before him and call him King-Rid? Or what if Sheila had a daughter named Sheilka? Or if Gina had a daughter named Ginka? Or if Lanie had a kid name Lanike? Or if J-Do had a kid named JK-Do? (Oh, how cruel the kids on the playground would be with the "Just Kidding" jokes!) Or what if Jeffro had a son named Jeffrok? Or if Jeff had a son named Jefkf? What if any of us named any of our potential future kids any of these names???????

THERE WOULD BE MASS HYSTERIA, THAT'S WHAT.

That said, I think we should all start adding the word "bob" to the ends of our names. Like, legally.

christy said...

I think Joe should name his son Joke. I think I'm going to leave "Chri" out of it and just name my daughter Stinka and then make her tell people it's because she's Russian.

And if PAM became Pakm, that would be kind of like her being Ms. PacMan and you would have to beat her new anonymous high score.

Oh and I'm *doing* the 12 of 12, because yes, I succumb to peer pressure. Even though I'm a bloated, angry, puffy-eyed mess and I forgot my hair tie.

Bonnie said...

Yay!

Babesk is doing 12 of 12! Woo!

Love, Scatk

Bonnie said...

Nolé Marin totally self-Googled and landed on my blog. Hee!