Alarming News: Random items

January 05, 2007

Random items

*My boyfriend 50 Cent is completely literate. So there. (Hat-tip Picture of Me)

*This article, a review of various airports in Russia, had me laughing out loud more than a few times. A sample line about the Mineralnye Vody airport: "a sensible terrorist would leave his weapons at home and buy new ones at the airport, where a wide selection of enormous knives and ornamental Caucasian swords is on sale. There are also embossed Caucasian drinking horns, and a large number of Brezhnev-era copies of the Kama Sutra." A serious must-read, both for informational and comedic purposes.

*Drudge headline: Bush Looking at Global Warming Ideas. I suggest he start looking in Colorado.

*I don't have any new years resolutions. Just like I don't think Valentine's Day should be reserved for love, or 4th of July for patriotism, I don't think New Years should be some sort of landmark for changing one's life. If you've got things you want to change, the calendar date shouldn't matter.

*My father has discovered the ipod, my ipod specifically, and was obsessively listening to it on the trip. If you were on the Lido deck of the Carnival Destiny this week and heard a guy singing along to "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" while doing speedwalking laps, that's him. He asked me to put his favorite songs from my ipod on a CD for him. Here's the list, remember this is for my father who is, by definition, old:

"Waiting for the Miracle"- Leonard Cohen
"Simple Twist of Fate"- Bob Dylan
"P.I.M.P"- 50 Cent
"I'm on Fire"- Bruce Springsteen
"Bang, Bang"- Nancy Sinatra
"Jackson"- Johnny Cash
"It's Good to Be King"- Tom Petty
"Hey that's no way to say goodbye"- Leonard Cohen
"Mis-Shapes"- Pulp
"Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home"- Sinead O'Connor
"Fuck You"- Dr. Dre
"I'm No Angel"- Dido

*The Elvis Duran show on Z100 in NY does this thing where they prank call people. The one where the Russian kid sets up his parents to believe he got arrested for pot-smoking has become a classic, with people quoting lines from it all the time ("you will talk to your mommy!"). This one (sent to me by CCS178) has Jewish parents finding out their college-aged daughter is hooking up with an Italian guy. The Jewish guilt in the call is just perfect. "Do you want to kill me? Are you trying to kill me?"

Comments

Prank calls usually bore me, but this one was quite special. :)

Posted by: ccs178 (Chris) at January 5, 2007 09:07 AM

I live in Monument, CO, between Denver and CO Springs. Woke up to 6" of fresh powder this AM, and it's still snowing. Third major storm in as many weeks, the previous two gave us 2+ FEET EACH. Totally screwed up our and many others holiday travels. I actually like the forced flexibility and unpredictability of this winter wonderland. Even if we are running out of places to put the snow. So, this morning I hear a "global warming" report about how the Northeast is warm. Who gives! The world DOES NOT revolve around NYC and DC, as much as the media may think so. I had this crap forced down my throat as a Bio major in college. It's really starting to annoy me. BTW, we have SUV's and we need and use them, I am not apologizing!

Posted by: Vandy at January 5, 2007 12:47 PM

My mother was recently introduced to Leonard Cohen and can't get enough of him. I think it's very cute.

Posted by: Petitedov at January 5, 2007 02:01 PM

Also, the blatant racism (or anti-Italianism) by the Jewish father was pretty funny, too. You know, if you're into that sort of thing.

Two things amaze me about those prank calls... 1) the way these fathers talk to their daughters (and believe me, having listened to many, the Jewish guy isn't an isolated incident).
2) that no one's been killed after these things.

For the record, a few of those songs on your dad's playlist are almost as old, if not older than you.

Posted by: Ken at January 5, 2007 02:02 PM

My mother was recently introduced to Leonard Cohen and can't get enough of him. I think it's very cute.

Yes, but is she listening to 50 Cent and Dr. Dre?

Posted by: Karol at January 5, 2007 02:13 PM

that prank is not funny, it's painful to listen to, and the anti-italian part made me cringe. maybe i'm sensitive, but it's just not my sense of humor.

that russian airport article, that's freaking hysterical.

Posted by: pn at January 5, 2007 08:03 PM

pn is right. Those pranks aren't funny. If I'd pulled a stunt like that on Dad when I was in college, he'd probably had his heart attack 5 years earlier. These pranks went straight into the deepest nightmare of any parent.

Posted by: at January 6, 2007 12:23 AM