pubar's Xanga

fall tv

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:16:30 GMT

as everyone else is weighing in on this fall's tv, i was hiking today and had a moment of inspiration

[sung to louis armstrong's what a wonderful world]

what a horrendous world

i see heroes fall, meredith too
oh how they suck for me and you
and i think to myself addison why did you leave

ugly betty sucks, as chuck starts to
bionic woman, jumping shark now
and i think to myself, what an appalling nite

samantha who is ok and pushing daisies cute
but dirty sexy money is none of the above
i see lost actors drinking and dee ewe eye-ing
the guilty pleasure is gossip girl

i hear brothers cry, and sisters too
and when i watch, i wanna cry too
and i think to myself, what an atrocious tv
yes i think to myself, why i even tivo?

happy pumpkin day y'all!

and while you toast away the ghastly nite, just remember colbert...

bad, bad foods

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:03:03 GMT

we all know the good foods, brocolli, skim milk, salmon, tomatoes, but here are some bad ones that may surprise you...

McDonald’s Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips sounds healthy. In fact, ounce for ounce, the Selects are no healthier than the chain’s Chicken McNuggets. A standard, five-strip order has 630 calories and 11 grams of artery-clogging fat. That’s about the same as a Big Mac, except the burger has 1,040 mg of sodium, while the Selects hit 1,550 mg, even without the salty sauce

Each slice of The Cheesecake Factory’s 6 Carb Cheesecake has 610 calories – that’s the same as you’d get from a slice of its Original Cheesecake. Think of it as an 8-ounce prime rib for dessert — with 29 grams of saturated fat, a 1 1/2 days’ supply. The next time you step on the bathroom scale, you may never know that the carbs were missing.

The Starbucks Venti (20 oz.) Caffè Mocha with whipped cream is more than a mere cup of coffee. Think of it as a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in a cup. Few people have room in their diets for the 490 calories and 16 grams of bad fat that this hefty beverage supplies. But you can lose all the bad fat and all but 170 calories if you order a tall (12 oz.) with nonfat milk and no whipped cream

Unless you’re suicidal, why on earth would you want to wolf down a Burger King Quad Stacker – 4 hamburger patties, 4 slices of cheese, 8 strips of bacon, plus sauce and a bun? That’s half-a-day’s calories (1,000), one-and-a-half-days’ worth of saturated fat (30 grams), 3 grams of trans fat, and more than a day’s sodium (1,800 mg). Urp!

Interested in a Chipotle Chicken Burrito (tortilla, rice, pinto beans, cheese, chicken, sour cream, and salsa)? Think of its 1,180 calories and 19 grams of saturated fat as three 6-inch Subway Steak and Cheese Subs. Plus, it has 2,900 mg of sodium! Getting the burrito with no cheese or sour cream cuts the saturated fat by two-thirds, but you still end up with 950 calories and 2,690 mg of sodium. Yikes!

A Mint Chip Dazzler at Häagen-Dazs stores (three scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, Oreos, chocolate sprinkles, and whipped cream) has 1,270 calories and 38 grams of saturated fat — that’s two days’ worth. Think of it as a T-bone steak with Caesar salad, and baked potato with sour cream. But that’s for dinner — yet many people have a Dazzler as a dessert after lunch or dinner!

the chicken burrito is a lil surprising to me, to be honest.

newsies

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:53:42 GMT

daniel dae kim, better known as jin from lost, was arrested last wk of drunk driving in hawaii. and that follows michelle 'i'll do whatever i can to make sure i will go to jail cuz i'm that cool' rodriguez and cynthia watros. so... is filming lost that stressful? do the cops just have it out for the lost cast? filming in hawaii is that depressing?

oh the delicious irony - an australian family values campaigner has been dumped by his family values first party after pics of him in oh, shall we say, compromising positions, surface on the net. really, it's not his penis, it's photoshop...

Sydney music teacher Andrew Quah, 21, admitted photographs showing his penis and circulating widely on gay websites had embarrassed his party and made his candidacy untenable. "But that's not my penis," Quah told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, adding one of the images may have been digitally altered. "I might have been drunk off my face, or my political enemies might have drugged me," Quah said. "It was a mistake that I would not have committed had I been of right mind. All I know, I have been humiliated." Quah said the photos were more than two years old and were taken and shared while he was drunk. He denied the genitalia in one picture was his, but said he did pose for two photos in an "inappropriate position."

ok so i haven't really read up on sarkozy aside from whatever the headlines, which means i know he got elected, he's not really that friendly with germany nor the u.s. (i think), and oh he's getting a divorce. but this storming out of a 60mins interview thing? hmmm... arrogance and ignorance comes to mind...

Before the CBS news show interview in Paris even began, Sarkozy called his press secretary "an imbecile" for arranging the session on a busy day. "I don't have the time. I have a big job to do, I have a schedule," Sarkozy said through a translator before the interview began. In English, he added: "Very busy. Very busy."

In the interview conducted earlier this month and aired Sunday night, he candidly discussed what he likes about the U.S. But he grew frustrated when asked about his wife, Cecilia, who helped negotiate the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor charged with infecting Libyan children with HIV and then failed to show up at a ceremony in which Sarkozy was given a medal by Bulgaria.

"If I had to say something about Cecilia, I would certainly not do so here," Sarkozy replied.

He declared the interview over and said: "Bon courage." Two weeks later, the Sarkozys' divorce was announced.

Sarkozy said he admired Americans' work ethic and the opportunities for advancement in the country, irrespective of class or background.

"That's what he thought. That a name like Sarkozy was a handicap," the president said. "That's the reason why I like the United States. You can have a name like Schwarzenegger and be governor of California. You can be called Madeleine Albright and be secretary of state. You can be called Colin Powell or Condi Rice, and succeed." < uh i think it's names like ramirez, gonzalez, chen, wong, etc that are having issues today? well, sounds like i'm not missing much from not reading up on him.

"the first lady rides on her husband's success to become the first female president of the country. " is it a prophecy? no. is this a headline of the future? actually, no, it's already happened, in argentina.

Cristina Fernandez rode into the presidency on her husband's reputation but now must learn to stand on her own: Argentina's economy is overheating, voters are angry about inflation and crime, and unpopular hikes in utility rates are inevitable. The first lady takes over from husband Nestor Kirchner on Dec. 10 as Argentina's first elected female president, finishing 22 percentage points above her closest rival — also a woman. Following Michelle Bachelet of Chile, she will become the second South American woman in as many years to take her country's highest office.Her success was largely due to the accomplishments of Kirchner, who oversaw a recovery from a deep financial crisis with growth rates of more than 8 percent a year. But a quarter of Argentina's 37 million people still live in poverty, 9 percent are unemployed and all struggle with inflation that analysts agree is much higher than the government admits.

since you suffered through the really important world newsbits, here's the reward. well, that, and also i'm told that i must have pics or vids or something that's not words to make my blogs interesting. so here it is, THE my sharona moment of all time, from reality bites. you either get it or you don't... it's on my list of top 20 movie moments of all time, assuming i had one...

city nicknames

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:40:25 GMT

so while i was not really paying attn to the very berry berry boring world series game 4 (i don't even like baseball) i thought of city nicknames. beantown at mile high. so why is boston called beantown anyway? not like beans were everywhere there, more like clam chowders and lobsters, right? as it turns out, there used to be a whole lotta beans, like, a hundred years ago... Back in colonial days, a favorite Boston food was beans baked in molasses for several hours. Back then, Boston was sort of awash in molasses - it was part of the "triangular trade" in which slaves in the Caribbean grew sugar cane to be shipped to Boston to be made into rum to be sent to West Africa to buy more slaves to send to the West Indies.

and whaddya know, denver really is one mile high, literally. By incredible good luck, there is a step on the State Capitol Building that is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level. In Denver’s rarified air, golf balls go ten percent farther. So do cocktails. Alcoholic drinks pack more of a wallop than at sea level. The sun feels warmer, because you’re closer to it, but your coffee is cooler, because water boils at 202 degrees. Mile High Denver is also extremely dry, so it is good idea to drink more water than normal. With less water vapor in the air at this altitude, the sky really is bluer in Colorado. But there’s 25 percent less protection from the sun, so sunscreen is a must.

which got me thinkin, what other cities have these famous nicks? we got the big apple, gotham, of course, and then there's chicago the windy city, and then there's tinseltown, lalaland, any other cities with cool nicknames?

SO, some excerpts from wiki...

fort lauderdale - fort liquordale

indianapolis - india no place

baltimore (maryland) - bodymore, murderland

detroit - the city of not-so-brotherly love

omaha - emoha (like emo the music)

jersey city - the 6th borough

gallup (new mexico) - the drunk driving capital of america

cleveland - thievleand

columbus - killumbus

philadelphia - city of brotherly shove, killadelphia, the city that sells you crack

memphis - memfrica

nashville - trashville

fort worth - fort worthless

and that conludes the random not so useful unless you wanna get beaten up by locals trivia of the day.

what does a million dollars buy?

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 11:32:10 GMT

keira in a new coco mademoiselle ad, apparently. watch and oggle, y'all. people this is how refresh branding is done.

and the tune? joss stone's version of 'l-o-v-e', originally sung by nat king cole.

2 good, 3 bad... movies

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 22:05:57 GMT

recently i caught up with a few movies, so here's a few that are worth mentioning.

the lives of others (das leben der anderen) - the oscar winning foreign film this year. 1984 east germany, a secret police (stasi) has been assigned to listen in on the lives of a couple - playwright and his actress girlfriend. kevin spacey!? no no, that's ulrich muhe. but of course he's not listening in to their lives simply because of being 'too creative.' a shocker and an excellent ending. official site

all about my mother (todo sobre mi madre) - another oscar winner from a few years back, this is the movie that truly propelled pedro almodovar into the international stage. it is also semi-autobiographical for pedro. this movie deals with a grieving mom and how she pieces her life back together. i don't regret having watched it, but i like volver and bad education (la mala educacion) more. the last 2 movies have really shown his maturity in dealing with human emotions. plus, the kitsch factor doesn't stand out as much, pedro has successfully blended it into his movies. i'm not a huge fan of penelope, but please, watch her in pedro's movies.

i suffer so you don't have to: license to wed , premonition, apocolypto.

balut

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 21:18:00 GMT

so one of the shows i watch is bizarre foods with andrew zimmern. he goes around the world sampling each country's 'local' food. in mexico that means grasshoppers, in morocco that means goat's eye. in taiwan that means the infamous stinky tofu. in vietnam that means live beating snake heart. and in philippines, balut. que es balut? why it's only a fertilized egg. and i tried it. YES i tried it, like, a pinch of it. tastes like egg yolk intensified. so you boil it, and then you eat it with salt and/or vinegar, or not.

what it looks like boiled

apparently you don't eat the dark part...

once again, my apologies for the lull, but i'm back, in almost full force, i think.

romeo & juliet

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 05:03:36 GMT

as performed by a chinese standup comedian. L.M.F.A.O. trust me on this one.

@ singapore airport

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:02:49 GMT

so i'm at singapore changi ariport, routinely voted the best airport in the world. so what makes it so special? WELL, perhaps i should start with their rooftop swimming pool and jacuzzi. yes this airport has a freakin swimming pool. 300 terminals with free internet pc, free xbox games, free movies (100' projection screen, no less), nap & fitness & gym center, massage, 5 gardens(koi pond, orchid, cactus, sunflower, heliconia), and last but not least, if you're transiting for over 5 hrs you can get a free 2 hr city tour. yes singaporeans can say 'nah nah my airport beats your crappy airport.' oh, and a lot their shops and restaurants are 24hrs. yeah so why am i here typing? pubar's got some explorin' to do!

from sh to sg via ads

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 14:24:49 GMT

sh taxicabs had lil tvs with ads and my fave, surveys in it, which i thought is an excellent mkting tactic. here i am stuck in a cab and sh is like la, takes 1/2 hr to get anywhere, i played that survey like 10 times, using up pretty much all of my split personalities. yes even josh got to participate as a guy who eats fast food 5+ times a wk, prefers western fast food and is a loyal customer of papa john's pizza.

in singapore now, and i came across this tres cool projection ad for epson, a thin layer of material covers the glass window, and the ad is just projected onto it.

the obligatory touristy pic - celebrating the mid-autumn festival (or mooncake day, as i'd like to call it) at clark quay...