Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. I've neglected this blog so much (and put more effort into my Tumblr lately) that I almost forgot to post this slideshow I made for the best Thanksgiving song ever, Steve Poltz's "Holiday Song".

Count your blessings, enjoy the time with your loved ones, think of others, keep warm, and stay safe.

After Charlie Brown inevitably takes his own life, the neighbors and his "friends" will have his blood on their hands

I made these Great Pumpkin pictures and posted them one by one over the last week at my Tumblr, but I figured it's be nice to have them all in one place.
Happy Halloween!

7.20.12

"And the Oscar goes to...Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star!"

It's time once again for the glitzy annual Hollywood circle jerk that is the Oscars. Just who will reign supreme this year? The tale of a majestic animal in a time of battle (Hugo), the pretentious and meandering arthouse film (The Descendents), the cloying 9/11 drama (Moneyball), or one of the six other flicks?

Of the Best Picture nominees, I've only seen two and a half. I really enjoyed Moneyball. I was more lukewarm on Midnight in Paris since I'm no fan of Woody Allen or when actors stand in for him (sorry, Owen). This afternoon I gave that glorified screensaver The Tree of Life a chance, but shortly after the dinosaurs appeared I checked out. Maybe in my golden years when I'm all hopped up on medicinal marijuana, I'll give it another shot.

Two films from 2011 that I thought were great, but got absolutely no Oscar love are Win Win (in my heart, the National's "Think You Can Wait" won Best Song) and Submarine. Do check them out.

Some are ragging on the Academy for bringing Billy Crystal back to host, but can you really blame them after the disaster that was last year? There's a right way to hip things up and a wrong way. Let's just call this a rebuilding year.

Oscar talk just wouldn't be the same without a little fashion. I couldn't give a hoot about all that (right now I'm watching last night's "Portlandia"), but here's who I'm wearing tonight: shirt by Jean-Jacques Shirt del Woot, pants by Armand Champion, hoodie by House of Old Navy, and slippers by Georgio Dockers.

I'll be live blogging the awards in the comment section. Swing by and tell me who you're wearing, give me your thoughts on the nominated films and performances, take the celebrities down a peg, tear apart the ceremony, or just say hi.

Requiem for the OG zombie

R.I.P. Bill Hinzman, 1936-2012.



You set the tone for 45 years of cinema and I'll be disappointed if you're not shuffling around out there as I type this.

Happy Burns Night

Here's to another Burns Night. It's been one big sucker punch to the gut of a day for me, so this gives me a positive excuse to get lost in a bottle of McClelland's Islay tonight.

Gonna kick it root down.

Entering the world of smart phones early last year changed my life. Now wherever I go, I have a little computer in my pocket. Need to check movie times or sports scores? No problem. Kill time by surfing the web? Can do! Need directions? Fire up the ol' GPS. Listen to European pop stations? There's an app for that.

While I love my LG Optimus V, I can't truthfully say a world of productivity and entertainment possibilities opened up to me. You see, while the phone is a great starter Android in many respects, there is one major drawback to it: a paltry 140 mb of internal that leaves little room for apps. Sure, a lot of apps out there can be moved to the SD card, but not all of them, by any means. With so many apps out there begging me to give them a spin, there was only one solution. I would have to root my phone.

When it comes to electronics, I'm a straight arrow that plays by the rules. (Well, I did complete the arduous task of punching a sequence of numbers on my remote control to make my DVD player region-free. Yar!) I don't cotton to voiding warranties should anything malfunction. Combine that with my limited technical knowledge and I didn't think I'd ever be able to unleash the full capabilities of my phone by myself. That is, until I found out about Gingerbreak.

With Gingerbreak, the process couldn't have been easier. I installed it on my Optimus and pressed one button. Boom. Rooted. It couldn't be simpler.

Of course, this was just the first step. With my phone "free", so to speak, I was now able to install apps that require rooting. One such app would solve my internal storage problem: Link2SD. This app moves any non-system app to the SD card and create a link to it on the phone, tricking it into thinking it is in the phone's memory. Installation of Link2SD was easy. It just required a partitioning of the card. (The first partition is for the moved apps. The second's for everything else.)

The one-two punch of Gingerbreak and Link2SD finally unlocked all of my phone's potential. I could now download many of the daily free paid apps from Amazon that I had been banking. Paper Camera for cool pictures. Lightning Bug to relax me! Flight Control to occupy all of my free time! And much, much more! Really, I am so glad that I rooted my phone and wish I would've done it sooner.

And here's one funny moment from my rooting experience:



We speak the same language, yet are worlds apart. I love my phone, but not that much. Sicko.

Requiem for a fashion icon/pundit

R.I.P. Tony Blankley, 1948-2012.



He was my favorite McLaughlin Group All-Star and will be missed.

It's the end of the world as we know it (and I'm totally cool with that)

It would be folly to make an effort to better yourself during the year that the world's going to end. Play for today, as the bard Robert Smith wrote so many years ago. So I'm not going to make any profound resolutions for 2012. But I will make a few tweaks in my life before the Mayans bring us all down.

Firstly, there are all of the previous attempts to improve things over the past couple of years. Some items were successfully completed (Redesigned blog! Read an epic-length book!). Others will have to be carried over for another year (More Bible time! More Britcom time!).

Now, the big thing I want to accomplish in the coming 12 months is to be more socially available. Living about 40 minutes or so from all of my friends has really secluded me. They don't really want to make the trip down south and all too often I regrettably return in kind. I really miss hanging with everyone. What's more, who knows how many professional/romantic/etc. opportunities have been lost by retreating into my cocoon of video games, DVDs, and books? So, I will make the effort put myself out there*.

Also, I want to get my writing and this blog back up to speed. In 2011 I made the first big step with the redesign and custom URL. Heck, I even did the same for A Very Micah Christmas, which I kept fairly up to date this season. Now it's time to take things to the next level. In the new year I will do more longform posts. In the meantime, all of the "drive by posts" - links, pictures, videos - have been transitioned over to the Micah, please! Tumblr**. Do check it out!

So, that's that. I think I can do those things before we're reduced to rubble. And if I fail, it's not like anyone will be around to call me out on it. Win-win!

*And, hopefully, that includes a move back to Richmond proper, which would greatly reduce any "effort" needed in going out.
**The exception will be that the Crushes of the Week will be staying put here when I bring them back. Gotta keep up those page visits!

O Holy NighTunes

Well, my merry little friends, Christmas is nigh and that means it's time for me to shove some Yuletide music deep into your earholes. This is the thirteenth edition of my mix, so most of the old chestnuts that you hear year in and year out have already been included at one point or another. If these songs are new to you, hopefully you'll dig them. And if you don't, then just wait until next year, you ingrate.

1. "Home for the Holidays" - Emmy the Great & Tim Wheeler
2. "Santa Stole My Lady" - Fitz & the Tantrums
3. "Party Hard" - Zach Gill
4. "The Christmas Song Song" - Rocky and Balls
5. "Winter Night" - Little & Ashley
6. "Angels We Have Heard on High" - Sufjan Stevens
7. "Get Down for the Holidays" - Jenny O.
8. "Beautiful Star of the East" - How to Throw a Christmas Party
9. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" - Dean Martin & Scarlett Johansson
10. "What the Hell (It's the Holidays)" - Joey + Rory
11. "Who Needs Mistletoe" - Julie Roberts
12. "Silver Bells" - Raul Malo
13. "What Will Santa Claus Say?" - Christabel and the Jons
14. "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" - Regis Philbin
15. "Zat You, Santa Claus?" - Buster Poindexter
16. "Christmas Smorgasbord" - The Swedish Chef
17. "The Christmas Goose" - The Oxford Waits with the Mellstock Band
18. "Ring of Hannukah" - Paul F. Tompkins
19. "All I Want For Christmas Is You" - Mike Viola and the Candy Butchers
20. "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" - Butch Walker
21. "Toy Jackpot" - Blackalicious
22. "Christmas All Over This Town" - The Plimptons
23. "George Bailey" - Carolyn Sills
24. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" - The Avalanches
25. "Sleigh Ride" - She & Him
26. "White Christmas" - Otis Redding
27. "Adeste Fideles" - Frank Sinatra
28. "Always in the Season" - Pomplamoose
29. surprise!

Grab a .rar file of all of these songs here. Enjoy!

(And if you're jonesin' for more Christmas goodness - including past editions of A Very Micah Christmas - do check out my other blog, creatively titled A Very Micah Christmas.)

Micah World is dead. Long live Micah, Please!

"I feel reborn. I'm like a Phoenix rising from Arizona." - Frank Costanza

Way back in late 2004 I caught the blogging bug and set up my corner of the internet. It was fun and I had a good time bringing light to the music, movies, books, and TV shows that I was enjoying. Posting weird news and links, making fun of politicians and celebrities, and occasionally giving people a glimpse of my personal life also occupied my time here. Entries were substantial. Readership could be counted on more than one hand.

Then I got lazy. Posts with actual substance got rarer. Later, I'd just throw a funny pic or YouTube video up. If you were lucky, I'd write two sentences to go with each of them. No one would comment. Checking my log, I could surmise that the only people coming here were the result of Google image searches of my weekly Crushes. (Granted, that traffic is steady, but I doubt anyone sticks around to do more than gawk at the fairer sex.)

So, I took a summer vacation. And then an autumn break.

Now I'm back! New layout, new name, a little more focus. Let the old blog be a lesson to you: never name something after a passing piece of pop culture ephemera. Sure, in 2004 I had just seen Spice World on cable and thought it'd be funny to jack the title of the Spice Girls movie for my blog. In 2011 it made no sense. (Also, the Micah World URL was taken.) Welcome to Micah, Please!

Updates won't be daily. They may not even be weekly, but I'm going to try. Sure, I may still make posts with little more than links, videos, or pictures in them, but I'm going to do my best to do some actual writing, dammit. And maybe I can then build my readership to a level that can be counted on two hands. Dare I even wish shoe removal should be required when tallying them up?

Oh, yeah. Since the season is approaching and all, I'm also reopening my Yuletide blog: A Very Micah Christmas.

So, ease into your comfy chair, start a fire, pour yourself a brandy. Cozy up with your new 78th favorite sporadically updated blog. Spice up your life!

Opening Day: it's all downhill from here

Ah, Opening Day. So much promise. Before the first pitch is thrown, every team is a contender. And then tomorrow we may as well call it a season for my beloved O's and Nats.

Are you still on the fence as to who should be "your team"? Well, just use the handy dandy chart above. (Get the original, larger version here.)

Quick movie reviews

Sucker Punch: Sure, the story wasn't deep, some of the acting was poor, and the dialogue could tend to be laughable. But I went in to the matinee expecting some kick ass action and an embarrassment of visual riches and that's just what I got. Were there hot chicks with guns, dragons, steampunk robot Nazis, runaway trains, living stone samurais, and Don Draper? Yes there were. The flick's not as terrible as everyone says. Basically, it's a mess, but a fun one. (Sucker Punch was initially filmed as a sort of musical (!), but was later recut into a traditional action movie. I'm dying to see the original version.)

Paul: Shaun of the Dead is one of my all time favorite movies. Hot Fuzz is a riot. This Simon Pegg/Nick Frost film is different from those two, though, because it lacks the directorial skills of Edgar Wright, so I went in with my expectations lowered. Even only expecting a solid flick, I still didn't really care for Paul. I got a lot of the geek references. The performances were fine. Pegg and Frost still had their usual chemistry (and some terrible haircuts), but the movie just wasn't all that funny. What a shame.

Blimey! An Irish Limey!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, friends. Get out your seat and jump around, but try not to overdo it.

My plans for the evening? Root my beloved Spiders on to a March Madness first round victory (hopefully!) and then imbibe a few drams of Scotch while settling in with Annie's Boobs, the Nard Dog, Ron Freakin' Swanson, and Toofer. Hey, it's a school night. *shrug*

Note: This post's title is a reference to an old Captain 20 and Chef Combo PSA/kids' show cooking segment on DC20. All these years I thought they made an "Irish Slimey" until a Google search turned up this. Upon reflection, "Irish Slimey" makes no sense and I guess it could be offensive to our drunken Leprechaun friends. Sorry, you tossers.

Beware the Ides of March

Step lively out there today, folks.

We ain't got no place to go, so let's go to the auto show.

It's that time of year again, which means yesterday I moseyed on over to the 2011 Virginia Motor Trend International Auto Show. Unlike last year, I didn't do any test drives or get my hands on any tech (unless you count briefly watching a friend's DVD of The Expendables on the down low in one of the cars). But I did get a few good snaps:



This Camaro is practically begging to have a personalized license plate that reads FKYEAH.




A new color for my dream car! It looks like FJ Cruisers now come in a different shade of blue.



First person shooters aren't my thing, so I'm eagerly awaiting a Katamari Damacy-branded Xterra or Rock Band Econoline van.



An old Holman Moody race car.



Unfortunately none of the new cars on floor were powerful like a gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a Nerf ball. None of them were...The Homer.

Want more pictures? Head on over to Spydrz's blog.

Special thanks to the fine folks at Ford for providing for my entry to the show. And also for not taking taxpayer money.

Crush of the Week: Autumn Reeser

This week's Crush is actress Autumn Reeser, lately of "No Ordinary Family". The show has its faults, but largely I'm digging it.



Her adorable comic book geek character on "No Ordinary Family" is a far cry from the upwardly mobile Hollywood agent she played on "Entourage". Range!

"And the Oscar goes to 'Little Fockers'..."

Ah, Hollywood. My favorite hideous bitch goddess. There are few institutions I love and hate with equal fervor as do with the Dream Factory. And Oscar night let's both sides shine.

I can't really comment on what films are deserving of a nomination this year as I only saw a handful of '10 movies, with Toy Story 3 being the only Oscar contender among them. So I'll leave the speculating to the experts.

Last year's pairing of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as tandem hosts was great. Anne Hathaway and James Franco have some mighty big shoes to fill. But even if they aren't as funny, well, I can always gaze upon Hathaway's big, beautiful eyes. That's good enough for me.

So join me in the comments section here and we can rag on the self-important speeches, the back-patting, and the opulence. Share your thoughts on the big winners and even bigger losers. Revel in the nipple slips and the people being cut off by the band. In other words, let's knock them down a peg!

(I'm also going to be following along with Doug Benson's live tweeting and the goings-on at the A.V. Club.)

Best of 2010: podcasts

I don't see as many movies these days. I still listen to a lot of music, but not as much as in my trendsetting days. It seems there is one entertainment medium that has been increasingly dominating my free time (and work time, for that matter): podcasts.

While still in its relative infancy, podcastdom has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. There is a show for pretty much any interest. While there are many podcasters still stuck in amateur hour, there are a slew that have carved out niches and set the standard.

My daily/weekly/monthly/sporadic favorites are still chugging along - Doug Loves Movies, Filmspotting, The Adam Carolla Show, and Comedy Death-Ray, to name just a handful - these are the best podcasts that debuted in 2010:


The Pod F. Tompkast: It's nighttime on the internet and once a month (and sometimes here and there in between) stand up comedian extraordinaire Paul F. Tompkins puts out this hilarious hour long show. Each episode contains some of his riffing, an excerpt from his monthly stage show, a phone conversation with fellow comedian Jen Kirkman, and an ongoing story featuring his hilarious impressions of Ice-T, John C. Reilly, Dame Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Lithgow, the Cake Boss, and others. It really is the highlight of my podcast month.

The Sporkful: Two guys and occasionally a guest go into the minutiae of the preparation and consumption of everyday foods. This is not your high-falootin' foodie father's podcast.

This Week with Larry Miller: Larry Miller has long been one of my favorite comedians and his 30-45 minutes of stream of conscious rambling each week amount to a good helping of audio comfort food. I like to listen to this on the commute home from work.

Culturetopia: This used to be a weekly compilation of stories from NPR - well, it still is that - but it's been retooled to add a second weekly episode featuring a pop culture round table. I find panelist Glen Weldon nigh-intolerable, but can overcome my dislike of him because I enjoy listening to the other people on the show so much.

The Nerdist: '90s MTV darling Chris Hardwick and a couple of his pals descend into the depths of geekery with a special nerdy guest. They've also recently added a non-guest (or "hostful") chat each week, too.

Who Charted?: Howard Kremer (aka Dragon Boy Suede), Kulap, and a comedian guest dissect the weekly music, movie, and other charts. Simultaneously, it confirms my bewilderment regarding what the kids listen to and watch these days. Get off my lawn! (This wins my award for Best Podcast Name.)

Requiem for Uncle Leo

R.I.P. Len Lesser, 1922-2011.



"Hello!" Uncle Leo was always one of my favorite secondary "Seinfeld" characters. He's not really dead if we find a way to remember him.