All Entries in the "Coffee Table Tidbits" Category

Does My Tech Shopping Call for a Rory Gilmore Pro/Con List?

Am I a technology guru? Not exactly. For the less tech-inclined (like, say, my Mother) it may seem that anyone who can operate a computer could be dubbed as such. Sometimes people assume that I’m more intelligent with electronic gadgetry and computers than I actually am. I mean, you throw out some terms like HTML and CSS stylesheets and suddenly you’re Bill Gates to them! Sometimes it’s all in the pronunciation. A link URL is always said ‘U R L’ and never ‘URL’, like Earl.

This pretty blue baby is the Canon Powershot sd1100 IS Digital ELPH Camera, picture from superwarehouse.com

Sometimes being keen to jump on trends can affect you adversely (read: BAD). I was one of the first people I knew with a digital camera. Nearly everyone has one now, but I have the same digital camera from years ago. It’s not broken (which is why I never upgraded), but there are so many advances that I feel it’s time to part with old trusty (I never truly named it, the poor thing) and look into a new digital camera. I like that particular website because it has a gazillion options for every tech/electronic product you could want. Plus the ones you’ll never need, but always want. (Question, a la Dwight Schrute from The Office: Why do people need TVs on their fridge doors?!)

I like that I can click to different categories within brands of cameras on the site. Although, I’m not sure if I want a ’stylish’ kind of camera or a ’serious’ kind of camera (the Fuji cameras have those two sections, plus ’sensible’) . What if you’re a serious-yet-stylish photographer? I just suck at making decisions. You could offer me two different jellybeans and I’d probably still have to make a pro/con list like Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls). Now, is this an effective method or just way too picky of me? I don’t want to know.

Since there’s free shipping on orders over a certain amount at SuperWareHouse.com, this would be a good time to buy whatever else I need, huh? There’s never enough Printer Toner, but I already told you I’m not a sensible shopper. When I told my friend I wanted to make my own business cards, I was pretty much joking. I was also joking about how I wanted them to say ‘Professional Magician and Pastry Chef‘ (I am neither — sadly).

But with some inexpensive glossy card stock (which you can also buy on the site, whee!) and one of the new Photo Printers that I’ve thought would be cool to get - I can make a few little business cards that have a picture of me giving a thumbs-up! (And if I’m wearing a beret, that’s even better, no?)

Well, if you have any digital camera suggestions, let me know! ‘Cause I’m definitely getting one of those, and I’d preferably like to get one of the most (decently priced, but still) rockin’ types available.

Popularity: 8% [?]

House M.D. Actress, Olivia Wilde, in the Cosmopolitan Style and Beauty Issue for 2008 (P.S. I Like Books, Neil Patrick Harris, and Jaws)

Olivia Wilde (The O.C., House M.D.) is featured in a photo shoot spread for the Cosmopolitan Style and Beauty fall 2008 issue. Never going to be mistaken for anything less than stunningly beautiful to those with functional eyes, Wilde sports some key fall 2008 fashion trends (specifically of the Boho Chic or Boho Luxe variety - it’s really the same thing). I am going to show you my two favorite pictures from this photo shoot. Click on them to see larger versions. View the rest of the Olivia Wilde pictures here.

Analyzing the style tips that are given, I must point one serious flaw. No matter how cute lace-up boots are (and they look AMAZING), they’re almost never worth the annoyance they prove to be. But maybe you’re more determined than I am, and will still try them. After all, I never finished reading the Harry Potter series. But I only have one book left, and everyone already spoiled it anyway! Plus, my ‘to read’ book list is so long, I have to prioritize and make tough choices.

I actually might be embarrassed to admit that I’ve read these books (I don’t like the movies) except Sarah Michelle Gellar loves them. So if you mock me, you’re mocking her by default. And do you really, really and TRULY want to mess with Buffy? I didn’t think so.

Since I’m talking about books, I might as well keep talking about them. First off, every How I Met Your Mother fan should smile when they hear that Matt Kuhn is penning The Bro Code, a book based on the philosophies that Barney Stinson hold sacred. Neil Patrick Harris will even be recording the audio books. You can read more about that here.

I can’t recall whether or not I’ve told you guys that I read The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie (House). But I did, and it was the kind of brilliantly compelling read that sometimes I forget books can still be. I don’t mean to sound dour towards all contemporary authors, I like several.

I think I have just been exposed to too many of the (now) standard chick lit novels about British women finding love in all the most obvious places. (Should we blame Bridget Jones and her pesky diary?) As an American, I am insulted that writers and publishers would think I’d enjoy a bad book simply because it has a few ‘cheeky’ words and jargon thrown in that I’m not used to. A bad book is a bad book. I used to adhere to a very strict code that meant I would finish any and every book I started. But now I give myself the liberty to put down any book that I can tell is wasting my time.

I still seem to finish every bad movie, though. And boy are there some bad movies on late at night. Jaws is classic. But have you SEEN Jaws 4: The Revenge?!? I’m sad to report that I now have.

For more Sirlinksalot.net: House M.D.

Popularity: 17% [?]

The Jonas Brothers: 70’s Porn Hair Has Never Been So Insulted

“Okay, am I the only one who doesn’t get the whole Jonas Brothers thing? Why are people falling all over themselves about them? One looks very much like a mole and the other has 70’s porn hair!!! The other is fairly attractive, yes, but what’s with those damn skinny jeans that they wear ALL THE TIME?!” - Brittany, my personal adviser and all-around amazing friend.

I am really glad that someone finally said it. It’s like Hanson for 2008, except without the good MMMbop song! I see these guys everywhere, but have never heard them. I think that I heard that they tour with Miley Cyrus, which already is deducting points to their credibility. I think it’s grand for tweens to have stuff they love, but, uh, just keep it away from me. I looked up their picture so I can better identify them. Voila:

The Jonas Brothers

And here is another picture:

The Jonas Brothers

Do you notice a theme? Fog? Kind of a lot of it? Yea. What is up with that? Why is there so much fog in all of the Jonas Brothers pictures? Does this lend them mystique? I think not. FAIL.

Edit: And then I found this link that says (and shows) that they’ve already got their own Madam Tussad’s wax figures. ALREADY? They’re still embryos! How can they be worthy? Society, WTF?

Popularity: 36% [?]

Goodbye, Men in Trees.

The Ben Arthur song Tattoo was featured on ABC’s (now canceled) Men in Trees in the episode Wander/Lust. Have a listen to jog your memory. He’s brilliant. Although, it’s another song of his that I am absolutley in LOVE with, you see. With the cancellation/loss of this show, and others (like Angel, Veronica Mars, Firefly), this song seems kinda perfect. I just have one loose end, excuse me….

Dear Men in Trees,

I didn’t give you much of a chance. You see, our schedules never quite added up right. As flimsy excuses go, I know that’s a weak one. Honestly, when I saw you - I was interested. I thought you looked like someone I knew in high school but never had classes with so I never bothered to talk to. Now that you’re gone, maybe we can reconcile over Netflix. I know this letter might seem like the yearbook message that Ben Covington left to Felicity Porter (Felicity) but I will not be following you to college across the country. That’s just now how I roll. But I’ll look for your DVDs, I really do promise. I know the Gossip Girl season one DVD comes out like, tomorrow, but you come first for me.

XO,

Jessica Rae

Ben Arthur - Keep Me Around:

Keep me around
My whole life long
And when I’m gone
Don’t you bury my bones
Keep me around

Knit a sweater from my hair
String a necklace of teeth
Or just lean me there
On the backporch where
I can feel the breeze

Chorus

It’s not that I’m jealous
I’d jut make a lovely stand for umbrellas
And you can toss your keys
Into the caps of my knees
When you come back from town

Chorus

Pickle my fingers in liquor
Leave them roll in a drawer
And you can hang your clothes
From hooks made of my toes
On the back of the door

Cool Stuff on the Internet, ‘Cause Boy Am I Obsessed:

1. This website: DownForEveryoneOrJustMe. It lets you find out, well, if a certain website is down for everyone or just you and your computer/connection! Huzzah. Technology is great.

2. PassiveAgressiveNotes.com

3. ThePioneerWomanCooks.com I’ve never made Risotto but with this recipe I might have to try making it for myself.

4. The AChairFantastic blog is very cool. (No, I’m not only partial to sofa’s!) I especially love the post here about Aiveen Daly chairs.

5. Alright, this isn’t just online, but the book Colour: Travels Through the Paintbox by Victoria Finlay looks amazing.

Color: A Natural History of the Palette (Same book?) / Colour: Travels Through the Paintbox

Jewels: A Secret History

Also I wanted to mention that Sofachip has a brand new layout (blue!) and a new header (I made it, praise me!) and all that, so go check it out…now? Tada! We are the same site, we just got some Botox! You’ll want to note that you can now search through every tag we have. So if you are on a page about Gilmore Girls but you’d like to go look at posts about Bones you can easily find them all.

Popularity: 22% [?]

J.J. Abrams Strikes me as a Fanboy, So I Love Him 3x’s More

Okay, I know I just posted videos for Dollhouse, but I don’t want to waste time in posting this awesome video for Fringe with series creator J.J. Abrams. I want to thank TVGuide.com for the video, and from that link you can also read more with Abrams.

What can you tell from the video? Well, I don’t know how keen you are (kidding) but what I sense (and have sensed since Felicity aired) is that J.J Abrams is a man of enormous creative talent. You might know his name in association with the TV shows Alias, Lost, or the movie Cloverfield. Now he’s bringing us his new show, Fringe. Abrams is a fan of mysteries (at least I think this is a fair guess) and he’s rethinking his methods of how he develops and shows them.

Even if you never watched Cloverfield, I bet you know what it is, and you were interested in it - talking about it with friends in the car or strangers online because of that amazing viral marketing campaign that they had. It pulled you into it, like uh - well, substitute your own brand of metaphor here.

Alias was frickin’ amazing and powerful in the first two (or three) seasons. After that, it did lose some of the magic, the center didn’t hold (yes I’m thinking of both a Sylvia Plath poem and a scene from Bones as I type that). There were too many things going on, people were confused, and you lost what made the show so great at the beginning. When it ended, there was a bit more of a sigh of relief than anything else.

Abrams realized that Alias didn’t end as well as it could have, I’m guessing, which is why he advance-planned the date for the end of Lost. And Lost, as all fans know, has more than its fair share of mysteries. Giving Lost an end-date tells people to hang on, it tells them there is a specific plan. With a show like that, that really helps. They can set the pacing.

Another thing that stands out to me, about Abrams, is how passionate he is about his projects. I think he’s a fanboy himself. He’s humble, he wears cute glasses, and well - I’m just a big fan! I’m curious to hear what you guys think of what Fringe will be. Are you excited to see it? Don’t you want to watch just to see Joshua Jackson back on TV? (Or is the Joshua thing just a me-thing?)

Popularity: 18% [?]