I'm a-leavin' on a jet plane

So, my parents just left town after a week-long stay, and then I went to an art gallery, and then I want to a tiki party, and then I discussed futurism with learned people while simultaneously walking a dog, and then I did laundry, which is why it's taken me a long time to get back to people over e-mail. Yes, I have been ignoring people, but take comfort in knowing that it's not personal; I've chosen to ignore everybody! Whoopie! Better yet, I get to ignore everybody some more, because I'll be out of town through Wednesday night on a tech scout. I won't be off-grid, so I'll still be checking e-mails, but if you're expecting a Proustian reply from me, you'll probably have to keep waiting until Thursday. Feel free to develop another hobby in the meantime to occupy you; I hear that philology is a rewarding way to go. If that doesn't tickle your fancy, check this instead:

"Independent," Webbie feat. Li'l Boosie and Li'l Phat
The embedding was disabled on this video, but don't let that stop you from admiring this WHOO KICKASS WHOO song anyway. I discovered it earlier today, riding around L.A. in killer traffic and flipping around various radio stations, and I've decided it needs to be my new theme song (as opposed to my previous theme song). (Okay, just kidding about that last one.) I normally avoid rap/hip-hop things, since so many of them seem to prominently feature the concept of beating up women who disagree with you, so I definitely took notice when this popped up, in between the endless rounds of Mariah Carey crooning about hunting you down if you post pornographic footage of her on YouTube.

Speaking of which, am I alone in being pleasantly surprised by how awesomely campy her video is? It made me laugh uproariously in parts, but I was laughing with the video, not at it. Love the cinematography (ooh, shiny!), production design (ooh, shiny!), Mariah's ability to geek out adorably (ooh, shiny!), and the guy (ooh, nerdy!). Love love LOVE the guy, even if his character is cartoony to the point of making me squirm -- at least the actor is a good sport, and hey, he got to reenact the famous 9 1/2 Weeks fridge scene with Mariah Carey! Not a bad anecdote for him to tell the ol' grandkids.

Some more fun:


The tall guy in the back with the dark glasses, projecting a vaguely Art Garfunkel vibe, is a former student of mine (and talented filmmaker) named Matt. Apparently, he enjoyed an 80s night which featured some excellent souvenir photography, and I am totally eating my heart out that I wouldn't know the first thing about looking this glamorous. Aren't these folks amazing? They look like candy, for pete's sake, especially that sassy gal with the blue bow! Gosh.



Kent (ooh, shiny!) alerted me to this, and it is the ultimate mind worm. IT'S DEVOURING MY SWEET, DELICIOUS BRAINS, RENDERING ME INCAPABLE OF SETTLING DOWN UNTIL I GET TO EMULATE THIS CHOREOGRAPHY IN MY LOCAL ALBERTSONS. I originally suggested Ralphs, but Kent was all adamant (hee! Adam Ant!) about Albertsons, and I appreciate that he clearly devoted serious thought to the matter.

And finally:


I don't know if this was shot with the Phantom HD, but HOT DIGGETY if this isn't The Most Gloriously Pointless Use of Slo-Mo for Commercial Purposes Ever.