As If I Had Control to Begin With, Ian!

My wonderful friend Amanda and I were talking about Joy Division and the Smiths and the Cure and all of those depressing 80s bands. I like the Smiths and the Cure but I've never really gotten into Joy Division.

However, after seeing this video, by gum, I believe it's time I start checking them out.



I am a notoriously, uh, "creative" dancer. This is exemplified by Mr. Curtis above. We are basically kindred spirits in dance moves and I find this both empowering and endearing.

Be right back, downloading "She's Lost Control", "Love Will Tear Us Apart", and some How To Dance Like Someone Who Hasn't Lost Their Mind videos.

Ready for us.

30 Rock reshaped as a surprisingly convincing drama. I would see this movie.

Also, great song they used. Not crazy about Bon Iver but that is a darn good song!

Download "Creature Fear" by Bon Iver.

I believe the man has a new album coming out soon, too. It's self-titled. Pre-order here.

Brothels

This post isn't about brothels. I just felt like writing out that word. Brothels. Brothels. Brothels. Brothels.

Yeah. Now that that's out of the way, read this hilarious rant against Time Warner that Eugene Mirman posted as an ad in some NY (HOLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA) newspapers.

Laugh. Laugh until you can laugh no longer. And then when you think that you're all laughed out? No. You're not laughed out. You've got a laugh in there still and darnit you are going to let it out or you will never get to leave here. Never. This isn't like that song "Closing Time" that gets stuck in my head daily. You don't GET to go home; you can only stay here.

Thank you for your time. Good night.

Never Feel Like Doing Anything Anymore So

here is a song or four.



If your name is Christian I urge you to be careful around me because I will be singing this song the entire time that I am with you. I love this band so, so much. Check out "Back of My Mind" and "Ms. Wrong," too.



I just finished this book called Ripped yesterday by Greg Kot. It was about how the Internet is revolutionizing (or destroying, either or) the music industry. Obvious and not especially enlightening but it was a good read regardless. There was a whole Death Cab chapter which I think was one of the reasons I bought it. (Also: it was cheap, there was a chapter on Bright Eyes, and another on Arcade Fire.) I wonder what he would have said about this video, the first one ever shot "live and in one take" over the Internet.



I love this song so much. "I was raised up believing / that I was somehow unique / like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes / unique in each way you can see. / And now after some thinking / I'd say I'd rather be / a functioning cog in some great machinery / serving something beyond me."



My friend and I met these dudes on the train a few weeks ago. YEAH. I MET A BAND. THAT HAS A MUSIC VIDEO. I'm awesome, you don't have to tell me twice. They were pretty cool guys. Jury's out on the music but I'm leaning towards "funkadelic" with a side of "groovy" or perhaps "happenin'." They're playing a show in Brooklyn tomorrow night; check out more info here.

J. Biebs, And Nothing More

Biebs went behind my back and released this new perfume and subsequent commercial without alerting me first. But then I saw it, and I understood why.



I think this explains itself.

And on that day, the world was reborn from a "Someday"-less infant to a poorly edited, nonsensical, but likely sweet-smelling man. Err, waifish teenage boy, rather.

It's the Most/Least Wonderful Time of the Year, May Sweeps (NBC STYLE)

Thursday night was the season finales of both Office and my new favorite Parks and Rec. 

Office was unsurprisingly underwhelming although some of the guest stars amused me, namely James Spader (and I guess Will Arnett, just because I love him unconditonally). James Spader was actually quite fantastic as the unnerving, disturbingly persuasive managerial candidate. I don't know if his character would work full-time but, darnit, would I love to see them try.

Another point of interest or two or four in an other lackluster and annoying inconclusive finale: Ryan was really on fire. His delivery of "Oh, no, Stanley, you'll live forever" killed me, as did the whole gently deriding Jim thing. ("James.") What was the point of Jim Carrey showing up? It was nice to see Gabe finally leave but it was a bit rushed...I actually missed it while I was doing something else. And Toby is looking seriously gaunt. I'm worried about him.

The Office's inconclusive (we still don't know who's boss!) season finale gets 3 obnoxiously hilarious Jim parodies (as performed by Angela) out of 5.

Parks and Recreation has been on fire all season long, even as a midseason replacement. Thankfully it won't be getting that shaft again next season. While I found this week's episodes, sold as a bit of a two-part finale, to be less solid than last week's, I still thoroughly enjoyed them, especially the near-epic "Li'l Sebastian," which was probably as perfect to an ending as anything I've seen from any show this season. It reminded me of the good old days of The Office where there were things at stake, where the end of the season was supposed to bring up new questions as well as answers. Parks and Recreation is relatively low-key and yet its character development is so strong that they drive the plots, they are the ones causing the conflicts instead of some meaningless and manipulative plot. Tom's conflict was especially poignant and at the same time subtle enough, not made to be some big plot point to be sold on. What I love about the show is that it's not something that, like Office, needs to be promoted the heck out of to get our excitement. We come back for the characters.

And just like Ron I will miss Li'l Sebastian. I have however cried several more times than Ron has.

I'm also interested in what the proposition given to Leslie will mean for the show. Perhaps Leslie in the government, maybe as mayor, was the end game all along. It will be interesting to watch. Also excited for: more Ben x Leslie moments, Andy and April as they exit their honeymoon period, and finally meeting the original Tammy! Also I hope they play "5,000 Candles in the Wind" again because that was awesome.

I give the Parks and Rec finale episode(s) 4 and a half torches exploding in Ron's face out of 5.

Seven and One-Half Years Later

Wow. So. I've written about how much I love Beulah and specifically their finale release, Yoko, before. From that post you could probably tell that I've done quite a bit of research on the band...and yet, somehow, I had never heard this NPR segment before now.

It's always interesting to hear someone's voice for the first time. Sometimes you have expectations for how they'll sound; in Miles Kurosky's case, I was expecting a voice a bit higher, raspier, with a less confident tone. I've been listening to this band for four years and I had never heard him speak before just now. And to speak about one of my all-time favorite songs, "Me and Jesus Don't Talk Anymore"? Man. How did I miss this?

Enjoy, although I don't know that anyone reading cares about this as much as I do. It's a great song and an interesting little piece, though.

Irrelevant, but: Don't miss the season finales for The Office and Parks and Recreation tonight!

Legs like little spiders!

I love this song a lot. You will, too, I hope! "Heart It Races" by Dr. Dog.



It's a cover of the Architecture in Helsinki song. They're annoyingly twee, or cutesy for those of you who are lucky enough to not be caught up in a world where "twee" is a common term. But Dr. Dog takes their original and grounds it and makes it AWESOME SAUCE-UM. Yeah. I just went there.

I said I was going to write about Parks and Rec. I will! Probably Friday, after the FINALE I think on THURSDAY WHOOO.

The PSN is Up and Running!

After 22 days without service, the PlayStation Network is back up.

Rejoice! Go turn your PS3 on right now and download firmware 3.61, which will force you to change your password amongst other things, and celebrate by watching some Netflix or playing some LittleBigPlanet online!

I start my fancy internship this week so this weekend, which now starts on THURSDAY for me, HECK YEAH MAN, I will finally start playing Red Dead Redemption. It will be glorious.

Hope you guys managed to survive without your online PS3 gaming-ness.

Read more here.

Apologies; This Post is Dedicated to Jennifer Robertson (And Pam Beesly)

I haven't updated my blog in exactly two weeks, and for that, I am deeply sorry.

It is not due to lack of interest or even lack of ideas; instead, I just haven't had any motivation to write anything at all. I'm lazy, I'm graduating, I'm depressed, I'm tired, and I really, really want an amazing cookie.

Deepest apologies to all of my fanatical readers, for I know there are many of you. How you have managed to survive without my periodic Liz Lee rantings and awkwardly-written NBC comedy reviews is beyond my comprehension; I know that, if I was not me and instead one of you, reloading the page anxiously in the hopes of finding a brand new post as opposed to the same Office review that you've been rereading with fervor for two weeks now, I too would feel confused as to how to live my life without new FWSF posts to illuminate the darkness that is my sad, sad life.

Well, I'm here now, so. Hi!

This post is dedicated to my dear, dear friend Jenni, who has been begging me to write a post for her for awhile now. She knows this blog better than I do, arguably. She also knows me better than I know myself sometimes thanks to her FWSF knowledge. It's a little frightening, but mostly awesome.

So. I've actually had a lot to write about lately. Today I wanted to write about Parks and Stinking Recreation, aka my new favorite show ever of all time, but I don't think Jenni watches it. YOU SHOULD, JENNI! I will write about it tomorrow maybe but think Season 2/3 Office with a smaller and more consistently awesome cast.

Today I will instead talk about Pam Beesly.

I know for a fact that Jenni loves Pam. A lot of people love Pam, most notably Jim, her husband. But me? I used to not be a Pam fan whatsoever.

I think that perceptions change a lot upon second or third watch of something. On my first watch of the Office, my clear favorite was Jim (and Michael). Second time? I still rooted for Jim, obviously, but it was far more about Michael for me. Third time? Interestingly, the third time I watched season 2, and then subsequently season 3 (then for the second time), I really related to...Pam.

Before I had found her unfunny, kind of annoying, and oblivious of Jim's feelings and how much better he was for her than Roy. But once I watched season 3 from beginning to end for the second time, I really resonated with Pam. Jenna Fischer was nominated for an Emmy that season and rightfully so; Pam is so convincingly torn between what she wants to do and what she is doing, and it made her extremely powerful to me as a character. She was the most real on the show, the most sympathetic. She was the new Jim.

So, Pam, this post goes out to you and Jenni. Enjoy some Pam moments below, because not only is she sympathetic but she is also surprisingly funny, especially in season 2.