Arrested Development Movie! Yay!

I was (and am) a huge, huge fan of Arrested Development, so I'm psyched to see that a movie (finally, possibly, hopefully) is in the works. I think it was pretty much the most groundbreaking, innovative TV comedy ever, so obviously I'm jazzed. Any other AD fans out there?

Vote for you next WBB regular feature than never reoccurs

Your WBB Chefs spent a glorious day learning about all the possibilities we have to make your favorite once-a-month-I'm-crazy-bored-oh-yeah-let's-look-at-this stop more fun. Of course, we realize that we have neither the ambition nor the time to make any of these ideas come to life, so we're giving you some options. What would you like to see as the next reoccurring WBB feature that never reoccurs? Here are a few we've pondered today:

1. We'll hold a contest and secret giveaway of Loree's husband Rob's action figure collection. He'd never even notice, and you will benefit by getting a potential collectible for your lovely home...or maybe some Hulk smash hands.

2. We'll actually review burgers every now and then--as our name suggests we should. Posts will be much like our famous post about the Baconator that still gets lots of hits. A Fatburger is going in at the end of my street. I feel this is an omen.

3. We'll create a podcast. We'll convince Sean to be our West Coast correspondent. We'll ramble for a while. We'll hate the sound of our voices on audio, and pretend it never happened.

That's all I've got.

Zoo Zoo Zoo!

I took a vacation day today, so Jon and I took a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. I love the zoo. It brings out the kid in me every time. AND, Jon decided to get us a membership this time, so now we have no excuse not to go ALL the time.

But anyway, here are some of the highlights of our zoo trip (in my opinion):

• Giraffe Ridge! It's open and features 5 adorable 2-year-old giraffes that are too shy to feed, but should be eating out of our hands (so says every zoo worker's t-shirt) by the end of the summer. It's going to be crazy.
• Woman with child -- who was clearly too old and independent to be on a leash -- on a leash. She wouldn't even let him hold his own snow cone. She spoon fed him. I think he was 4. To each her own, I suppose.
• The elephants are back! At least the Asian elephants. My last trip ended with disappointment when I realized the elephants weren't around. Elephants have been my favorite since I was a kid.
• Speaking of kids, Jon got ice cream all over himself like a 3 year old. He was covered in sticky swirl soft serve and sprinkles. It was amazing.
• The cat house smells terrible. We were thoroughly traumatized.
• A zoo keeper was walking one of the bearcats. It was a fun sight to see.
• We watched a wild birds show. Clearly wasn't geared to our age group, but it was fun and informative nonetheless. I enjoy how they explain why it's important to take care of the environment to small children. The zookeepers are really good at making it relevant for them.
  

So, if you haven't been to the zoo lately, you should go. I'm sure it wouldn't take much convincing to get me to go with you.

I love this story!

My favorite part (click to enlarge):

A rant of sorts

So, as I was riding along the Little Miami Trail this morning, I got a little more irritated than usual about one of cycling pet peeves. It was probably exacerbated by the my friend who often works in the trauma unit at a major hospital in Tennessee saying, "You know how many severe head trauma cases I've seen from simple accidents gone wrong. You know, I'd just rather god take me."

I'm sure you can tell where this is going. It drives me crazy when people don't wear helmets when they ride -- whether it's a bike on the sidewalk or a motorcycle on the interstate. Now, sometimes I understand the mentality a bit, especially on a bike, where you grew up cruising around, 8-years-old, without a care in the world and certainly without wearing a helmet. You'd fly off the handlebars once or twice during your childhood, but you'd always pick yourself up, run to mom for Neosporin and a Band-aid, and head back out knowing that you can't really jump those pesky stumps.

Well folks, along the way someone figured out that a lot of kids AND adults never picked themselves up, got their band-aid, and went on their joyful way. A bicycle helmet costs $10-$20 at Target and Wal-mart, and if you stick them on your kids, it's not okay to give them the idea that once you grow up, you don't need them any more. There are a lot of people being bad examples to kids on the trail. 67,000 Adults go to the hospital for head injuries sustained on a bicycle each year. Estimates show that as many as 88 percent of those injuries could be prevented with a helmet.

Wearing a bicycle helmet should be like wearing sunscreen or a seat belt. You just do it because over the long term, the odds that something bad will happen for not doing it, is too large.

Love Michael Ian Black. Definitely going to buy My Custom Van: And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays That Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face.

The world is full of whack jobs. I'm so proud that I live in the same state as this guy. Sheesh.

I'm Voting Republican

Did I trick you? Probably not. But, this is hilarious. Enjoy. I'm sure there will be a "I'm Voting Democrat" one soon to share.

You want Straight Talk?

Ok, I'll give you straight talk.

John McCain: Your strange attempt to be young and hip by having a "Cribs-style" tour of the Straight Talk Express Bus is just bizarre and embarrassing. I would put it in the same category as the British trying to frame prehistoric Stonehenge as "rural chic" -- but of course the British aren't stupid enough to do something like that. They accept old things. Earth to McCain Campaign: Come to grips with the fact that you're old. Please.

And besides, if you're going to give us a tour of something, give us tour of Cindy's corporate jet, otherwise know as the Campaign Finance Reform Loophole Express.

Damn you Mitt Romney and your failing campaign!

I thought this was a great first-person account from a writer living with generalized anxiety disorder.

Most people that know me well know that I've dealt with episodes of anxiety and depression since before I was 19 years old, when I was officially diagnosed with major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. And you know what? I joke about it a lot, but it sucks. Sometimes I go months feeling totally cool and fine, and sometimes I'm so paralyzed with fear and sadness that I wish someone would just whack me on the head with a 2-by-4 because being unconscious is the only thing that sounds good.




But I'm not embarrassed about it. Obviously, or I wouldn't be writing about it here. I hate that there's still a stigma and that some people think you can just suck it up and deal when honestly--for a lot of us--that just ain't biologically in the cards. I see more doctors than my bank account would like and I've been dealing with shitty side effects of various medications for eight years because being successful and functioning like a normal human being are two very important things to me. And, lucky for me, I think it's more or less working.

But, I love that this writer put it out there. It's kind of tough putting your neuroses out for public consumption and I think it's realistic that she concludes that it's tough to find easy answers and permanent solutions.

Greenwashed

Long time no blog, people.

So, I went shopping over the weekend to get some summer shirts. One of my stops was New York & Company, which I like because of the plentiful sales and coupons.

Anyway, when I walked in a sign on one of the walls caught my eye. "Eco Couture" it said. I thought, "oh wow, green fashion at a reasonable price." Of course, I was expecting the clothing to be made out of recycled fabrics or bamboo or something crazy, but not so much. At New York & Company, "Eco Couture" means "inspired" by the world we live in. The description said something like green fabrics and leaf patterns that are a tribute to our planet.

Greeeeeaaaaaaaaaaat.

It could be the lamest ploy to exploit the green movement I've seen yet. I almost walked out, until I saw the 50% off rack and realized that I had a 30% off coupon to go on top of that. I have principles, but it's a recession people!

What kind of absurd examples of greenwashing have you seen lately, besides any ad from a oil company about how "innovative" it is?

This is the best thing I've read all day.



Click image to see detail.

(Story from Cincinnati.com)

Another day, another link to Jezebel. This clip they showed today from that great 90's show "Daria" totally made me nostalgic. I vividly remember the episode, which was lampooning "Jane" magazine.

I wish "Daria" was available on DVD, because I would totally snap it up.

I'm kind of cheating on this blog, but I have a new cat--with a very Stark-Bricken appropriate name--and he's so adorable, I think everyone should take a peek.

Ok, I lied.

I wasn't quite done with the interview when I posted the link. My new favorite excerpt:

AVC: You studied acting in college, and you've had roles in TV and film. Do you think it can be tougher to get a role because of your Soup persona? Like, "No, he's Mr. Snarky Guy. We can't give him that."

JM: I would say possibly, but not nearly as hard as it would be for, like, a registered sex offender. So, you know, happy medium somewhere.

Here's a great intervew with "The Soup" host Joel McHale from The Onion A.V. Club.

My favorite excerpt:

AVC: Do you think the war on stupid culture is unwinnable? Are we headed for Idiocracy?

JM: Oh, that's a good question. I think the smart people will get even smarter, and the dumb people will get even dumber. But I think they all will enjoy A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila, no matter how you slice it.

(This is a cross-post from Hermits Gone Wild, because I posted it and then realized it was based off of something from another site and I usually put that stuff on WBB. Exciting stuff!)

I'm not sure if it's just because I recently saw SATC and I'm in a fashion-y mood, but I enjoyed this Jezebel post about askliments--the etiquette around complimenting someone on their clothes and then asking--or not asking--where they got it. I think maybe I like the post so much because A) it's not something I've really thought about before and B) the seven types of responses the writer describes to askliments are so true.

I'm probably a combo of responses two--self-deprecating--and three--gloating about getting a bargain. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the connotations around the word gloat, but I'm a big-time bargain shopper (hate paying retail) at J. Crew, Banana and Anthropologie, and I love sharing a good deal. Everyone should buy cute clothes and save money!

About the etiquette around asking the question itself, I'm a bit divided. On the one hand, I can't imagine ever being offended by someone asking me where I got something, but I can be a bit of a willing oversharer. On the other hand, while I'd have no qualms about asking a friend where she got something (I can't really conceive of the idea of being friends with anyone who would give a shit if I shopped where they shopped), I can't imagine asking a stranger where she bought something, but that's because very, very few things prompt me to speak to people I don't know period.

Anyway, just my random superficial thoughts.

Carry on!

Google has spoken.

Therefore, the world has spoken.

It's a sign.

I was having a conversation recently about movies I'd paid money for to see in the theater but that ended up desperately, totally crushing my soul with their terrible-ness. Sure, lots of movies end up being "meh" or slightly disappointing, but occasionally a movie is so very bad, so heart-stoppingly terrible, it makes you just totally aware of how you will never get those two hours of your life back.

For me, that movie is "Hollow Man." Followed by "Meet Joe Black." What's yours?