NeRd aLeRt!

Herzog and de Meuron rock.

i know they are internationally renowned architects who are constantly recieving praise... but i just wanted to extend my personal congrats and say thanks to them for being cool. tip of the hat to HdM.

check out their extension to their Tate Modern in London, which is expected to be completed in time for the 2012 Olympics. I am especially interested to see what they do with those underground tanks that are intended to be galleries.

yeah yeah yeahs on SNL saturday

i <3 this video. i do NOT <3 SNL as of late. but the music has been pretty good this season, barring taylor swift, oc.

so thats how it works

do they really use salad tongs to get fat babies out yo vaginas?



thanks dlisted

fixed it

from my bookstore trip today.

wall of complimentz

it's a double-compliment day!!!

" i read 2 pz and just hiccup in my office trying to stifle my laughter."
-meriel

thx meriel! here's a compliment back to you:

"it pleases me that meriel likes it so much"
-joel

erin baker needs your help

she got a new job! but it involves lots of time hanging out on construction sites, and she just doesnt know what to put on her feet! do any of you industry ladies out there have any recommendations for cute solutions for foot safety? if so, leave them in the comments.

fyi, erin will be working in the hot desert climate of austin texas. she requests something with 'a roomy toe box so my toes can breathe.'

in on tv right now news

this is hands down my new fave commersh.

what is kismet doing?

answer: kismet is pooped. he had his haircute today. he was washed, and cut, and styled, and had his nails done, and got a fancy red bandana.  he looks like a teddy bear. so cuddly and very cute if i do say so myself.

Crap ad from a conglomerate

lookin-like-a-bun

Ever think about how different animals resemble each other in strange and unexpected ways? Well that's the subject for my next running column: "These non-bun animals look an awful lot like the buns they're pictured next to!"

This pup is a beautiful auburn hue....and so is that bun!

Trends: Bright Under-P's

Men are buying pink panties to brighten up their 'spirits' during these dark economic times. No one is more on the 'pulse' of this trend than Jockey.

'When the economy’s gloomy, shoppers tend to make small, often unconscious, decisions in their consumer habits,' said Ruth Stevens, brand manager at Jockey Underwear.

'Men may feel out of control during the recession so they make small choices which may lighten their mood and one of these is evidently choosing brighter underwear.' But Easter Egg-colored undies, really?


Other colors that have seen a hike in sales are orange and a very fetching pistachio green.

how emBEARassing.

the new york times city room section invited graphic designers to submit ideas for the new world trade center (tower 1) logo. along with some really bad serious submissions, it looks like they got their fair share of smart-ass responses. ctm.

romance novels sales are up.

Harlequin Enterprises, the queen of the romance world, reported that fourth-quarter earnings were up 32 percent over the same period a year earlier, and Donna Hayes, Harlequin’s chief executive, said that sales in the first quarter of this year remained very strong. While sales of adult fiction overall were basically flat last year, according to Nielsen Bookscan, which tracks about 70 percent of retail sales, the romance category was up 7 percent after holding fairly steady for the previous four years. (nytimes)

hills recap!

We open with Heidi and Stephanie lunching and discussing their empty lives. Steph is having a hard time making friends at fashion school. Hmmm, maybe that's because people don't recognize her from last semester. What is up with her puffy face? Stephanie thinks it's a good idea to invite Heidi to Lauren's surprise party, even though Lauren hates her. “You're fine [to go]. 100 percent!” We think she tried to smile after saying that, but her face is broken. (nymag)

i dont watch american idol, but...

she's no tina, but no one ever is.

thx leah.

where do i even begin?

last night, after a supremely disappointing follow-up to the kelly-vs-bethenny episode of real housewives of nyc, bravo aired a special 30-minute preview of their newest edition of the franchise, real housewives of NeW jErSeY! if you missed it, you should totes check it out.

first things first. i have to address this logo. as you may remember, the other versions of this show have title graphics that involve the housewives all holding an iconic product of their region: an orange, a big apple, a georgia peach.
now, we all know the old saying: "nothing good has ever come out of new jersey." well, that sentiment has been reinforced by the inability of the creative minds at bravo to represent the state with anything other than the STATE ITSELF.
that being said, i'd like to take a few moments to introduce you to the new housewives (disclaimer: i have no idea how to type in a jersey accent, so read all quotes knowing that they were barely intelligible and often required rewinding two or three times.):

from left to right : teresa, jacqueline, dina, danielle, and caroline

in the event that this photo doesn't tell you everything you need to know, let's get started. the first thing that struck me upon introduction to this dynamic group of ladies is that they all seem to be intertwined into one large extended family. a family that sticks together, defends each other against all odds, and discourages outreach or the welcoming of outsiders. i dont want to use the term 'mafia', but i mean.

first up, the two sisters, dina + caroline:
they are married to 2 brothers. dina is an interior designer / event planner, has a ridiculous teenage daughter with a 'tude, and her husband never seems to be around. again, i dont want to say 'mafia'...but i mean. caroline is dina's much older sister, and she is quickly shaping up to be my favorite. her husband owns a catering event space that reminded me of this. she says things like "this family...is as thick as theives." and "i'm looking forward to having an attorney in the family...", with regard to her son going to college.

next, the sister-in-law, jacqueline:
she recently married the brother of dina and caroline, and seems to be spending her every waking moment meekly attempting to win their approval. she's not from new jersey, and claims to be 'one of those people who always thought of new jersey as the armpit of america." she seems innocent and sweet, but i get the impression she's going to be making some waves in no time.

born-and-raised in jersey teresa:
this b looks like troubs. she wants to get some new 'bubbies', despite her 'gorgeous, built, beautiful' husband being an 'ass man'. she has 3 daughters that she prefers dress in matching clothes. but, whats most important is that in the season preview reel, we see her shouting at the 'family' and she proceeds to strip-and-flip a table. can. not. wait!

and lastly, quiet-but-clearly-insane danielle:
she's recently divorced, cant get her ex-husband to pay the settlement, so she calls and begs him every so often, despite knowing that he 'likes it'. she has a gym and tanning bed in her house, and likes to make her daughters run with her. in one scene, she is preparing for a date with a guy from the internet, a self-proclaimed 'gucci model' ten years younger than she is, with whom she has already engaged in phone-sex and described the experience as '.....wow.'

well that's all for now. i hope everyone is excited for the latest stop on the crazy-rich-women-across-america-express. this mess premieres on may 12th. we'll talk more then!

thx a lot.

thx a lot, maura b. jacobson, creator of the nymag crossword puzzles, for getting this song stuck in my head.

wall of complimentz

"2pz just addresses all the hard hitting isues i want to know about. the blog is still just as amazing as the day you started it btw."
-dale

thx dale! your face is still just as amazing as the day your mom started it!!

netflix update

yesterday i watched a sci fi thriller from danny boyle, the renowned director who brought us that other sci fi thriller 28 days later and that academy award winning movie about some kind of gameshow and poor indian children that i still havnt seen yet. 

anyway, based on my respect for mrs. boyle i watched sunshine, about a ship, the icarus 2, sent to the sun to detonate an explosion with the intention of restarting the failing star and saving life on earth. along the way, tension builds as things start to go wrong after they encounter the icarus 1. i dont think its a spoiler to tell you that things start to get bloody.

what bugged me about the movie was 1) the unrealized potential of the story, and 2) the amount that this film seemed to borrow from other films, namely event horizon (which was a film that i couldnt watch in the dark when i rented it in high school because i was too freaked out). in regards to the first point, besides a bunch of people burning up and a weird observation room that seemed to serve no purpose other than to cause trouble, the movie didnt really have much to do with the sun. the bigger problem for me was point number two. i had this creepy feeling about halfway through like, i have seen this before. and as the story moved along and resolved itself, that feeling strengthened. 

all this is just to say, not bad for the genre (expectations for sci fi thrillers are typically low), but i expected better from the man that reinvented the zombie movie. event horizon was creepier, and 28 days later was much much better.

6 biscuits out of 10.

guess what i just remembered...

...the university of tennessee's student newspaper, the daily beacon! specifically, its crime log. here's an excerpt:

Monday, April 6

• 7:38 a.m. — Vandalism report at South Stadium Hall.
• 10:48 a.m. — Theft report taken. Stolen wallet with UT ID in Fort Sanders.
• 11:23 a.m. — Accident report at McClung Plaza.
• 1:39 p.m. — Officer took theft report at Hodges Library.
• 2:19 p.m. — Medical problem at Sutherland Apartments. Rural Metro notified UTPD. Subject transported to UT Medical Center.
• 2:24 p.m. — Theft report of stolen UT ID in unknown or unlisted location.
• 5:52 p.m. — Suspicious person at University Center.
• 6:03 p.m. — Officer took accident without injury report at University Center.
• 6:09 p.m. — Suspicious person on Cumberland Avenue.
• 6:17 p.m. — Suspicious person at Money Wall.
• 10:35 p.m. — Confiscated drugs at Hess Hall.

Tuesday, April 7

• 12:47 a.m. — Sick person at Clement Hall.
• 2:48 a.m. — Hit-and-run on White Avenue.
• 3:01 a.m. — Skateboarding disturbance in White Avenue Garage. Officer advised student subjects to relocate.

my fave is 'suspicious person at money wall'. i think this is a great opportunity to introduce you all to the UT phenomenon known as the money wall:

i always felt like i was gonna get hardcore mugged there. this is the best photo the internet had to offer. as you can barely see...the money wall was a subterranean line of 10-12 ATMs built into the cavernous ground level of a parking garage. at night, it was poorly lit and almost always abandoned. you had to walk up to the wall with your back to your surroundings and withdraw enough money to get you through a night at cool beans (roughly $20).

shoulda kept it on the DL

former alabama judge indicted on inmate sex charges:



former mobile county circuit judge herman thomas was arrested friday on accusations that he "checked" male inmates out of jail and forced them to engage in sexual activity including paddling, and DL trips to hotlanta.

according to the mobile press register, during thomas' judgeship, he allegedly had a storage room furnished like an office near his eighth-floor chamber at mobile's government plaza, and used the room to paddle inmate's buttocks. furthermore, some inmates have alleged that thomas suggested full-blown sexual encounters in the room as well.

thomas' attorney, robert clark, dismissed the charges as part of what he considers a "high-tech lynching" ...whatever that means.

in defense of former judge thomas, most of the witnesses against him are currently serving time, and therefore lack credibility. but in their defense, former judge thomas also doesn't hold a lot of credibility as an inmate f-er.