Super tweet me

My usage of Twitter waxes and wanes for no apparent reason, but one thing that I am pretty anal about is tweeting the stuff I put on my iPod. I don't know why I do it, but no one reads my tweets, so who cares, right?

Well, before leaving for work this morning, I sent this this tweet:



Imagine my surprise when I got this direct message later on in the day:



How cool is that? (Especially considering I didn't use a hashtag or link to his account and he doesn't follow me.)

So, professional humoredian Doug Benson, for taking two seconds out of your busy day to thank a fan, as well as providing me with countless hours of entertainment over the years, I am adding you to the Micah World Cool People List. I urge everyone reading this to follow you on Twitter, subscribe to your "Doug Loves Movies" podcast*, and grab your stand up albums. Now, how about doing a show in Richmond?

It's only a matter of time before Kenny Rogers reaches out to me. C'mon, man! I ironically bought your shirt.

*I listen to way more podcasts than any normal person should - thank you, brain dead job! - and his is my favorite. Are you a comedy geek and a film buff? Then you'll like it.

A round of links for my friends

Need some good reads to pass the time? Here are some interesting articles that I've come across lately (100% Michael Jackson media circus-free!):

• Stripper pole aerobics classes aren't a crime...unless you live in a town like the one from Footloose.


• A lengthy (and a bit preachy towards the end) look at George Orwell's obsession with tobacco.


• The Farrah Fawcett-Ayn Rand connection


• I want to be a sleep tourist. Seriously.


• Did Michael Bay actually make an arthouse movie?


• You know, this may be my sepia-toned nostalgia talking, but 1999 was a really good year for music.


• 18 crazy (and legally unlikely) courtroom scenes

That's about it for now. I think I'll make this a regular thing (yeah, it's easy blog filler).

Best. Viral ad. Ever?

The makers of the Nazi zombie film Dead Snow commissioned this viral marketing campaign to promote the Norwegian DVD (and concurrent US theatrical release). Curiously, the above video doesn't feature any Nazis, zombies, or even snow. Just a bunch of not-safe-for-work hot chicks jiggling to an inane Europop song. Genius.

For the record, I was intent on checking out this movie well before I saw this video. It did not affect my opinion. At all.

I have found internet nirvana.

Explosions and boobs (keep on refreshing). That's pretty much why the internet was invented, isn't it?

Note: It's safe for work, unless your workplace frowns upon pictures of stuff getting blowed up and disembodied clothed breasts on par with anything out of the Sears catalog. And if they do, I feel sorry for you.

My hero

While the public's love affair with Watchmen is fading - big time* - I'm still pretty geeked out over the film. So much so that I've decided to become a superhero, with a little help from the Hero Factory.

Once I created my superhero, the site dubbed me "The Talented Karate Ninja," but that's just silly. I see my hero being something more along the lines of "The Platonic Friend." What are my super powers? Behold:

• Cloak of Non-Threatening (affects women AND their boyfriends)


• Mad Listening Skillz


• Super Respectfulness


• Keen Mixtape Prowess


• Infinite Sweetness


• Extreme Misplaced Feelings


• Dark Brooding (out of public eye)

Now if you'll excuse me, I must patrol the streets.

*For you nerds who haven't seen it yet, please heed übergeek Patton Oswalt's words.

I think Stephen Colbert did this bit eight years too early

And don't blame me for today's coronation. I voted to re-elect President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. I mean, c'mon: he's also a porn superstar and five-time Ultimate Smackdown wrestling champion.

But I don't hate the new guy. I wish him well, but I'm skeptical.

Bonus Crush of the Week: Mug Shot Chick

This week's Bonus Crush is this lovely girl featured in the Smoking Gun's 2008 Mug Shots of the Year. Apparently, she was ejected from a Jersey bar and then "kicked, punched, and bit some cops."



Crazy chicks. You gotta love 'em.

The coolest t-shirt ever? Yes.

Though I'm only a casual reader of webcomic Questionable Content, I just had to buy its "She Blinded Me With Library Science" t-shirt when it was brought to my attention. It took the folks behind the comic/merch site over 2 months to actually fulfill my order (just in time for winter!), but it was well worth the wait.

Is there anything wrong with wearing my fetish* on my (short) sleeve?

*Well, one of my fetishes.

Just the recognition that I'm better than almost everybody else is its own reward

Well, after some high hopes last week, I ended the ESPN College Pick 'Em season ranked 4th overall. So no Xbox 360 or Circuit City gift card for me. But considering my picks were based more on luck than expert analysis, placing that high is quite an accomplishment.

So, now the question begs: are you bitches ready for me to totally dominate the next Oscar pool?

Note: I blacked out the full names of all those participating in my league, reasoning that they wouldn't want the public humiliation that would inevitably come with the knowledge that I totally laid the smack down on them.

"Are you now or have you ever been involved in douchebaggery? Remember, sir, that you are under oath."

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You can now refer to me as Micah the Greek

So, this season I've been making my college football picks in ESPN's College Pick 'Em game, concentrating on the league that I started and completely oblivious to the bigger picture. Well, the other day a friend pointed out that I'm ranked #6 in the nation (the world? the universe?)!

How the heck did this happen?! I don't claim to have any keen insight when it comes to sports. My system for picking winners is only a step or two above "I like their mascot better," for Pete's sake. I guess it helps that I'm realistic about "my team" (the Buckeyes can't win every game). Also, I switched from relying on the odds at Yahoo! Sports to the ones on Vegas.com, merely because Yahoo! drastically changed their layout, making it more confusing to a gambling neophyte like myself.

Now that I know my status among the gaming elites, the pressure's on. Winning an Xbox 360 would be swell. The other prize is a Circuit City gift card, which may be totally worthless when it comes time for it to be awarded. ESPN might as well have put up some Best Products or Service Merchandise funny money.

This week in food porn

For those looking for a new food porn fix, a friend recently referred me to the most hardcore site on the net: Smitten Kitchen. Lock the kitchen door and enjoy.

It's been quite a long time since I baked anything, but this weekend I dusted off the ol' KitchenAid and made a batch of that site's pumpkin swirl brownies. Pumpkin AND chocolate in the same recipe? Yes! I admit that it wasn't quite the taste revelation that I had anticipated, but they still turned out to be pretty tasty. I'm going to make another batch for my work's Thanksgiving lunch on Thursday*.

*In addition to being known as that iPod guy, I anticipate being referred to as that guy who cooks by my co-workers.

Happy Halloween!

In The Know: Has Halloween Become Overcommercialized?

"You know, last Halloween I asked my nephew, 'Do you know why you wear a costume?' And he said, 'To have fun and get candy.' He didn't even know that it was to protect his virgin spirit from the wretched dead that roam the Earth one night a year to steal souls." Ha ha!

This probably one of the funniest videos that the Onion's ever put out.

Cooper was right

Happy 40th anniversary, Night of the Living Dead!

The fine folks over at PopMatters are doing a week-long series of articles and essays (30 of them!) to commemorate the milestone.

The epitome of "suitable for framing"

Kids fighting zombie kids! Do you not see the awesomeness here? I want this to hang above my mantle!

This is one of those bizarre, wonderful things one just randomly happens upon when surfing. All credit to the artist for creating such a glorious picture.

My favorite movies for every year of my life

Similar to yesterday's post about my favorite albums, I thought that I'd take another cue from the internets and compile a list of my favorite movies for each year that I've been alive. To aid in my selection, I consulted Wikipedia's lists of years in film, which I found out was less than complete (it didn't list Fletch!). So, I may have overlooked a film or two.

1975: Jaws
1976: Rocky
1977: Star Wars
1978: Dawn of the Dead
1979: The Jerk
1980: Caddyshack
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982: Pink Floyd: The Wall
1983: National Lampoon's Vacation
1984: This Is Spinal Tap
1985: Fletch
1986: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
1987: The Princess Bride
1988: Die Hard
1989: When Harry Met Sally...
1990: Goodfellas
1991: Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1992: Scent of a Woman
1993: Groundhog Day
1994: Pulp Fiction
1995: Braveheart
1996: Swingers
1997: Chasing Amy
1998: Rushmore
1999: Fight Club
2000: High Fidelity
2001: Ocean's Eleven
2002: The Bourne Identity
2003: Big Fish
2004: Shaun of the Dead
2005: Walk the Line
2006: Thank You For Smoking
2007: Hot Fuzz
2008: Iron Man

What have we learned? For the most part, I'm a populist and a comedy geek. Big shock.

My favorite albums for every year of my life

There's an internet thingy making the rounds where you list your favorite album released in each year of your life. Sounds simple, doesn't it? No, it is agonizing. As you can see below, I had to make some tough calls*. But I did the best I could (ask me to do this again in a week from now and you'll likely get an almost entirely different list).

1975: Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here
1976: Boston, Boston
1977: Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
1978: Elvis Costello and the Attractions, This Year's Model
1979: The Clash, London Calling
1980: AC/DC, Back In Black
1981: The Police, Ghost in the Machine
1982: Michael Jackson, Thriller

This year was the first toughie for me, with Yaz's Upstairs at Eric's, Def Leppard's Pyromania, and Listen by A Flock of Seagulls. Femmes for the win. Due to the many strong albums from here on out, I provide a runner up for every year.

1983: Violent Femmes, Violent Femmes (runner up: The Police, Synchronicity)
1984: Prince, Purple Rain (runner up: Van Halen, 1984)
1985: The Dead Milkmen, Big Lizard in my Backyard (runner up: LL Cool J, Radio)

Okay, 1986 is the next big year full of classics: Graceland, So, Life's Rich Pageant, Skylarking, Candy Apple Grey. Yikes!

1986: The Smiths, The Queen Is Dead (runner up: Run-DMC, Raising Hell)
1987: The Cure, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (runner up: the Replacements, Pleased to Meet Me)
1988: Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (runner up: R.E.M., Green)
1989: The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses (runner up: The Cure, Disintegration)
1990: Depeche Mode, Violator (runner up: The Sundays, Reading, Writing And Arithmetic)
1991: Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend (runner up: A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory)
1992: Basehead, Play With Toys (runner up: The Beastie Boys, Check Your Head)
1993: A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders (runner up: Depeche Mode, Songs of Faith and Devotion)
1994: Johnny Cash, American Recordings (runner up: Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral)
1995: Pulp, Different Class (runner up: Ben Folds Five, Ben Folds Five)
1996: Weezer, Pinkerton (runner up: Fountains of Wayne, Fountains of Wayne)
1997: Buena Vista Social Club, Buena Vista Social Club (runner up: Wyclef Jean, The Carnival)
1998: Pulp, This Is Hardcore (runner up: Steve Poltz, One Left Shoe)
1999: The Roots, Things Fall Apart (runner up: Ben & Jason, Emoticons)
2000: Flogging Molly, Swagger (runner up: Jack Johnson, Brushfire Fairytales)
2001: Ben Folds, Rockin' the Suburbs (runner up: Jude, King of Yesterday)
2002: Eminem, The Eminem Show (runner up: Mary Prankster, Tell Your Friends)

And now we come to the last year of very hard choices: Elvis Costello's North, Steve Poltz's Chinese Vacation, The Postal Service's Give Up, Snow Patrol's Final Straw, and Pigeon John's Is Dating Your Sister were all contenders. I had to go with a recent discovery of Clem Snide, though.

2003: Clem Snide, Soft Spot (runner up: Fountains of Wayne, Welcome Interstate Managers)
2004: John Wesley Harding, Adam's Apple (runner up: Say Anything, ...Is a Real Boy)
2005: Anya Marina, Miss Halfway (runner up: Clem Snide, End of Love)
2006: Amy Winehouse, Back to Black (runner up: Jarvis Cocker, Jarvis)
2007: The National, Boxer (runner up: Lily Allen, Alright, Still)
2008: Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend (runner up: Neon Neon, Stainless Style)

So, what's your list?

*I have omitted compilations from contention. Sorry, Bob Marley and Squeeze.

Donkeys used to play basketball for the love of the game. Now it's all about money.

2-Year-Old Donkey Called Up To Pro Donkey Basketball League

Ah, this brings me back to high school. Note: I was a spectator, not a donkey.

School me on Flickr and Picasa

For years I used Sony's Imagestation to store my photos online and they met my needs. You couldn't really beat free unlimited storage. That's probably why they closed up shop. After they went out of business I had my pictures automatically transferred to Shutterfly, but I don't really care for that service. I have taken many pictures since joining that site, but haven't uploaded any of them. I've been investigating my options and have narrowed it down to Flickr and Picasa.

Right now I am leaning towards Flickr, mainly because it seems more "fun," for lack of a better term. The community aspect and some of the bells and whistles appeal to me. But then, Picasa seems like it will seamlessly integrate with all things Google, which is also plus. Neither service offers free unlimited storage so it looks like I'll have to go the premium route no matter what I choose. I had at least a gigabyte of pics on Imagestation and I plan on re-uploading all of them over time.

What do y'all use? What are the pros and cons of each of these sites? Is there some viable third option that I've completely overlooked?

I'm all atwitter!

Well, I went ahead and joined Twitter, though I'm not 100% sold on it. I mean, this blog is enough of a narcissistic outlet that I barely keep up with at times. Why would anyone care what I'm doing at any given time?

But, I'm updating - or "twittering" - every now and then, posting one-line B.S. and stuff like updates about what I'm digging at the moment (currently, I'm on the last song of Clem Snide's Soft Spot album and LOVING IT). Think of it as a mini-blog.

So "friend" me or whatever. But I do ask that you let me know who you are. Right now I have two "followers" who I have no idea about their identities...and it's kind of creepy.