Short list of not-so-random thoughts

1. Blogger gossip of the weekend: Ace of Spades likes Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack". Like me, he was only semi-ashamed to admit it. Don't forget that he also saw "Brokeback Mountain" with Allah. You do the math.

2. I caught this incredible documentary the other night called "Welcome to North Korea" (you can watch it here). It was made back in 2001 but I somehow missed it. Watching the covert coverage felt like watching aliens. The culture is so radically different I can't believe we share the same human properties. Words can't properly convey it; it doesn't sound as weird as it actually is to tell you about the empty tourist sites, the bizarro belief structure, the propaganda the people seem to believe, the dark capital city, the dancing-on-demand children. With today's news that North Korea claims to have tested a nuclear weapon, it's more important than ever to understand this Communist mentality. It isn't as cool as the Che shirts would have you believe--it's totally insane and frankly, scary as hell.

3. Watching the World Series of Poker Main Event, I'm just crazy about Allen Cunningham. I love his style, his play, his personality and I think he's such a cutie. Yes, I know poker content goes on the poker blog but cute boy content goes here. See?

4. Did I mention that Ace admitted to liking Justin Timberlake? Did I?

5. My father hadn't even read about my handbag dilemma and he randomly brought me back a crocodile bag from somewhere in Africa (he was in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia). It's boooootiful.

6. Speaking of creepy Communism, Dawn Eden put up this strange video of a Russian band singing a rock song. I translate the song in her comment section. It's propaganda-esque, about an American guy who loves the Beatles and the Rolling Stones but gets sent to Vietnam where he is then killed. Despite all that, I love the earnestness of the boy singing. I wonder what happened to the Poyuschie Gitary (The Singing Guitars).

7. While getting a manicure on Saturday, I saw a JAP (that's a slur for "Jewish American Princess" round these parts, not a slur for Japanese people) getting her nails painted black. And then today, when I walked by Sephora with Pretty Numbers and Petitedov, the model in the window had black nails. I don't know if that means a 14-year old Karol was like 15 years ahead of the trend, or if upper east side women have just done gone lost their minds. My manicurist did not like painting someone's nails black. At all.