| Guilty pleasure TV shows! |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|01:08 am] |
Wah-hey! I haven't gone to bed yet, so it still counts as Tuesday!
You know those TV shows that you watch regularly but only talk about with a few select friends because they're not related to your "main" genre of entertainment? Sometimes they're the ones that you just turn on while you're folding your laundry or washing the dishes, and before you know it, you're hooked!
For me, those shows are the following:
...And they're all on the Travel Channel.
I've been watching Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern for quite some time now, and even though every episode follows basically the same format (Andrew goes to foreign country, experiences some odd customs, tries everything there is to eat, eats some poor animal's penis and testicles), there is something different about each one. He might be eating pigs noses AGAIN... but he'll be doing it in a different country. And it might be prepared differently. I can't even count how many times this man has eaten brains, tripe, eyeballs, and especially penis and balls. He loves 'em! It's fun to hear him talk one minute about how he was a nice Jewish boy brought up in NYC, and the next he's eating a plate full of ham. He also has "foodgasms". When he tastes a particularly delicious item, he rolls his eyes back in his head, purses his lips and does a slight head toss along with a noise of "mmph". And this is what we call a "foodgasm". I can't forget how often he uses the word "gamey" to describe meat. I'm not quite sure what it means in terms of taste, and I'm not sure I want to either. Out of all the nasty things he eats though, he hates the durian fruit. I don't blame him. I tried it once myself and it tastes/smells like gasoline, onions, and rotten eggs all rolled into one. Oh, Andrew Zimmern. Never change.
Man v. Food is a show I started watching after I saw a preview for it while watching Bizarre Foods. I like this one for similar reasons to Bizarre Foods. I get to watch Adam Richman compete to consume large amounts of unhealthy food (in place of bizarre ethnic fare here) from the comfort of my apartment while I eat a modestly-sized meal. The thinking is, "What massive challenge will Adam take on next?" For some reason I don't mind watching this man slog his way through 6 pounds of food so he can get a t-shirt and his picture on the wall. Part of the fun is learning about places in towns I've never been to. My consolation in watching this show is that in between "gigs", Adam exercises and eats healthy, sometimes fasting the day before his next massive eating challenge. This show is surely based on Schadenfreude.
Meet the Natives USA is fairly new to the Travel Channel (yet somehow there's already a two-part season finale coming up? Huh?) It's really uplifting to see America through the eyes of these natives from the island of Tanna. Their hearts are pure and they are genuinely happy, unburdened by the stresses of modern society. They made a great yet simple observation when staying in Orange County, and their hosts had a "Botox party". You can change the outside but it's not going to turn back the clock or "reverse the life inside". They seem to charm their hosts everywhere they go, presenting them with their native dance in their ceremonial costume at the end of each visit. Their hosts seem to get so attached to them that they (their hosts) are brought to tears when it is time to say goodbye. I love their mission to track down and thank "Tom Navy", an American who came to their island and brought peace early in the 20th century (I think).
If there were any shows to have a guilty pleasure about it would be these. You can have your MTV Cribs and your E! True Hollywood Story. Give me my Travel Channel. |
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| Funny thought |
[Dec. 14th, 2009|04:40 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | funny, random | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  weird | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "My Sacrifice" by Creed (yeah yeah say what you want) | ] |
I just had a funny random thought that deserves to be in LJ more than Twitter:
I wonder if sumo wrestlers ever fall in love with each other.
More stuff not related to sumo wrestlers later on. |
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| Nostalgia |
[Dec. 13th, 2009|10:42 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | family, pictures | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  lazy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "One Little Song" by Gillian Welch | ] |
LiveJournal is a good place to feel nostalgic. Much better than Facebook for that (I have got to stop this habit of comparing the two!). LJ (and other blogging sites) provide the great opportunity for photoessays. Sometimes my brother sends me old pics of the family. That's one of the great things about him. Even though he can be obsessive at times, he is certainly enthusiastic about keeping the past alive, and that obsessive quality often lends to gathering up the old pictures. Every time I go home to visit, the old photo albums come out and we start reminiscing. I wish I could digitize some of the old photos of my Mom and Dad from around the 1970s. A lot of them are in slide format.
I think it's time for a photo-essay, don't you? Not planning for these to be in any particular order. They're just what I happen to have on my hard drive.
( Photos from the past! ) |
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| Reflections and Resolutions |
[Dec. 12th, 2009|04:45 pm] |
I think this blog entry calls for some kind of resolution. Obviously I need to write more. It doesn't have to be fiction, and it doesn't have to be some great work of art, or the great American novel. Facebook status updates and Twitter updates are so fleeting. I see and experience so many things, whether amazing, crappy, uplifting, or just ordinary-every-day that they really do deserve writing about. Like the sound of the rain falling outside-- something to be treasured in Southern California. Or seeing someone carry a thin-looking Christmas tree over their shoulder as I drive under an overpass on the 101-S. Or the happiness I feel when I'm with my friends and the hopes and things I have to look forward to in the future.
I've had a pretty good year and even if things seem unchanging sometimes, when I really step back and look at everything that can happen in a year (the people I meet, the plans I make, the places I go) it's pretty awesome. Every time I go home I remember how much I love and miss my family, and I feel a pull toward going back. But then after being back in Los Angeles for a while, I really feel like I've made so much of my life here and there's more to come. I can't "give up" now.
I'm sitting in my friend ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) brianrubin's apartment right now, watching his kitties for him while he is on vacation for a few days. Murphy is asleep to my right, her belly rising and falling gently. Harry, who never came out of the bedroom while I was here before, came out to say hello...TWICE. I've downloaded a few songs for the Valley Ruach Hanukkah party, and I'm just being a total lazy ass today. Trying to ignore the voice that tells me I need to get up and DO something. Birthday is next Friday. The last year of being in my 20's. Something tells me it's going to be interesting.
I can remember how in 7th grade, Mr. Diskin (now a Facebook friend, how weird is THAT?) had us write something called a "Daybook". We had to free-write in a notebook for at least 15 minutes a day. It didn't matter what, we just had to write. I want to encourage myself to do the same thing now. I haven't been able to do NanoWriMo (ok, or even tried) because if I put that much pressure on myself, I'd better come up with something GOOD... and if I'm going for quantity instead of quality...it's just not going to be any good. Besides, I have a lot going on in my head that's not necessarily a fictional novel and would like to be said anyway. If I write about anything on a more personal level though, it's going to be locked to people on my LiveJournal friends only list though (ask me about it if you're not on the "Flist" and we'll talk). Internet privacy, blahblahblah. Some entries may have pictures, some may not.
So a resolution to write at least one blog entry a day? That shouldn't be too hard. Unless I'm on vacation with no access to a computer which doesn't happen very often. Since you probably haven't heard from me in a while on here, anyone got anything they want to talk about or ask? |
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sleepy