Porn in the Workplace
 

In the Chicagoland area (don't you just hate that?), it's usually called THE prom, with heavy emphasis, to underscore how clever and ironic everybody's being.

Reality Crap
 

Hmm, yes. And the clothes they wear. Bad prom dresses, cheesy tuxedos. Is there any Japanese fashion besides "Hello Kitty"?

A Note from the Mod/etiquette for the Mod
 

Stop baiting me.

TM

Boring buffy stuff
 

Please let it be Fred. Please please please. It won't be Gunn until they work out the whole Electra-Grrl illicit sex plotline. Or maybe Charisma Carpenter's alleged detox visits will result in her character "making room," as you put it.

I agree with the rest of your analysis. I thought the Buffy spin-off was going to be very Willow-centric, which means they'll need whichever Scoobies are left standing. Mutilating Xander would, in any other series, mean he's a dead man real soon, because the television viewing public feels better when disfigured people are put out of their misery. But Buffy is a little different in this regard --- in other series, peripheral characters who go bad don't get partially redeemed; they either get utterly vindicated in recockulous plot twists or killed. It's the formula. Xander, by comparison, can wear the appropriate pirate look (didn't he go as a pirate in one of the Halloween episodes?) and soldier on. If he can keep the weight off, that is.

But if the new spin-off is Faith, they'll be able to do more from the ground up (i.e, lose Dawn etc.). I think there was talk at one point about Xander being a watcher. But not if Fox is throwing money at him for a soon-to-be-cancelled sitcom.

Reality Crap
 

I love this show, but can't be bothered to figure out when it's on. Anyone know?

Coachella
 

If ever you have the chance to go to the Coachella Arts & Music Festival and get free Artist-level wristbands, giving you access to the stage, the trailer area, all VIP areas, etc., I recommend doing it.

Having secured these wristbands early Saturday morning, we go back to the hotel to chill, and then head over to the concert around 4:30. As we're walking in, the Hives start their set. Pelle Whatshisname is a god. Imagine a tiny little dude strutting and prancing around like Mick Jagger, screaming for two minute intervals, and then saying things, in a Hans-and-Franz voice, like:

"We are the Hives from Sweden. We are come for your politician."
and
"We are the Hives from Sweden. It is so good to be here in plastic California."
and
"We are here from the icy north of Sweden. All the other bands here are just the dessert." etc.

Halfway through the show, I notice that all the guys in the band are wearing the same color wristband as we have, so I lead the s/o up to the stage and they let us through the stage gate. We climb up the stairs and watch the rest of the show from the side of the stage. Very cool. A few bands blocked off the stage access (Jack Johnson, Queens of the Stone Age) but most were very cool about letting us up on the stage.

So Hives were awesome. After that set, we head back to the VIP area and see about a million entertainment folks. Tommy Lee was juking around on a Segue, and was also hanging out with Pat O'Brien for some reason. Juliette Lewis was all over the place. Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore didn't leave the artist trailer area, chatting up the guys from Blur, especially.

Seeing Blur from the stage was awesome, though apparently they replaced their guitar player with a new guitar player, and added a keyboard, an extra percussionist and three backup singers. They sounded great.

Queens of the Stone Age was very loud, and not my thing, so we headed over to see Black Eyed Peas, another band that had many members (over the course of the weekend, I found myself nudging my friends, going "hey, there's another Pea" as one walked by). They sounded so-so. I think they're going to have a big hit with their new song "Get Retarded."

We skipped most of Ben Harper to relax on the couches backstage, and then went out front for Beastie Boys. It seemed like the Boys were more interested in talking politics than performing. Despite MCA's claim that he had "mad respect for our troops," he launched into tirades against the War, Bush, and the current state of U.S. Foreign Policy. It got very tiresome after awhile. That, plus the fact that they played but one song off of Paul's Boutique and nothing from License to Ill was a little disappointing.

The next day, after some outlet shopping, we show up and head right to the tents for Timo Maas (couldn't believe how crowded it was for these freakin DJs), and then to the second stage for Chicago's Tortoise. These guys were great - think Godspeed You Black Empreror with more Xylophones and wood blocks. I'm picking up their CD today.

Next was Sonic Youth from onstage at the main stage. Despite the fact that a falling monitor almost wiped out half their rhythm section half way through the set, the drummer survived (didn't miss a beat, actually) and they played a strong set. Kim Gordon looked and sounded very good; she only sang during the last 20 minutes, however. They kick ass. Nuff Said.

Jack Johnson was up next. A big crowd favorite. We saw him from out front, because they weren't letting us up on stage. He has a great voice and is incredibly charismatic. People who got to see him in coffee houses and stuff before he got big are very lucky. He worked a Sublime cover into his set - perfect.

We hung around backstage in between acts because we were hopeful of getting up there for White Stripes. I overheard the guards talking about how the stage left stairway was the only one where they'd be letting people up, so I camped out. After the first two songs, we were up on stage, 20 yards away from Jack and Meg.

A few observations: Meg is not a techincally good drummer, but they build that in to their music. Jack is so used to slowing down and speeding up (and in fact may be driving much of the tempo changes) that it doesn't come off as a big flaw. Next, Jack White is extremely talented. To create that full a sound with just his guitar and his voice is incredible. It takes incredible confidence to even attempt it. Their set was great, with about 4 songs from each of their past two albums, and 4 or 5 more that I didn't recognize. They did not play their BIG HIT.

After that was Iggy and the Stooges, back together for the first time in awhile. Best band of the weekend that I heard, and I'm not a fan of their stuff, and didn't recognize any of the songs. After this we drove back to LA and skipped the Chili Peppers.

And that was my weekend.

str8

Reality TV--paging NCS especially
 

Maybe they could just make The Nashville Network, I mean The National Network, I mean Spike into that station and be done with it. Will it be showing all the syndication episodes of RW and RR? There is some channel in my area that randomly shows old RR episodes from all seasons. Its kind of fun to catch the 10 year old ones now...

n(no interest in the gloved one)cs

Boring buffy stuff
 

Ugh. I lost a big post. I will attempt to recreate.

How much inside do you want? I have a pretty decent idea of what is going to happen on both shows at the end of this season, though the final details of the season finale of Buffy are still a little unclear. (check out www.spoiledrotten.com if you're dying to know).

Random things that may be of interest.

Joss's deal with Fox (studio, not network) apparently was a five series deal, so he's got some stuff to do with that deal even though Firefly isn't there to sustain him anymore. (He was VERY involved in Firefly last year, and I think that it's cancellation was a blow to him.) He loves his actors, but the Buffy cast is ready to move on. There were talks in February of a Faith the Vampire Slayer series, but Eliza has signed on for another TV show two weeks afterwards. I think that the "Vampire Slayer" series is probably dead, but I also think that these baby slayers this season were sort of a test market to see what the audience thought about potential Buffy replacements. As of February, Joss was telling fans that they're not done yet. The fact that the sets were destroyed last week tells me that yeah, they probably are. Sarah Michelle Gellar wanted out two years ago. She's not ever going to come back until she needs some quick cash and is ready to do some guest spots on Angel. Nick Brendon has been signed to do a pilot, but those things have huge failure rates. Anthony Stewart Head was supposed to do a Watcher series last year in the UK, but I think it's been pushed back to later on this year. He didn't like being away from home, and that's why he left as a regular cast member two years ago. I don't know and I don't care about Michelle Trachtenberg's career.

Angel's fate is still unknown. The WB had an opportunity to renew and they delayed the decision until after the season ends, which sort of puts the writers in an awkward position. End with no loose ends or have enough dangling so the series can pick up again in the fall? I'd say that Spike's comment to Faith about his not being Angel was a set up for his joining the cast. Marsters has been pretty clear that he's excited to jump on that particular series if things go well, and I think that his popularity could be something that the studio execs would carefully consider. I also think that Allyson Hannigan's guest appearance on the show was a look at how she'd interact with the rest of 'em, so I wouldn't rule out her involvment. She's a pretty close personal friend of Joss's so he's going to look out for her. I'd put Angel's chances of being renewed at about 70%.

I'm curious what's going on with Charisma Carpenter. Last year, she ended up in rehab (remember that "vacation" to Mexico?), and she was told that if she didnt' clean up her act over the summer, she'd stay on the higher plane forever. The pregnancy was NOT planned (I've heard rumors of shotgun wedding), and I'm impressed that they worked around it fairly well. All in all, I'd be pretty pissed off at my leading lady if for two years in a row she were incapacitated for the second half of the season.

David Greenwalt left Angel last year to go on and do Miracles, but I understand that it was cancelled. I am curious if he's coming back. Tim Minear practically does everything for that show, and I was surprised when he wasn't named Executive Producer last year, but I guess he doesnt' have the right connections.

I think that's it. Joss is really good when he's focusing on one thing, so if Angel and Ripper are all that 's left for him to focus on, next year could be a really good season for Angel. On the other hand, if his deal with Fox (studio) really is for five shows, then he's probably working on quick development so he can get in on the mid-season replacement bandwagon for next winter. Usually production starts up in July, so I can't imagine that he'd be doing anything new for the fall with such short notice.

A Note from the Mod/etiquette for the Mod
 

But it is fun.

recommendations requested
 

My legs are so pasty white these days they light up the night sky. Now that I would like to bare them I'm looking for self-tanner recommendations. Does anyone know of one that is tinted so you know when you are putting it on what areas you have already covered? (And please spare any wiseass comments about just getting a tan - it's never going to happen).

Also, if anyone could recommend a good wedding gift for a rich (liquor heiress) couple that already has everything I would be most appreciative. They are apparently not registered, which some I guess would consider delightful, but to me it is a pain in the ass.

Many thanks.

Punk'd
 

My favorite part of this was, complete with Florida accent, "Y'all took ma dogs?"

Boring buffy stuff
 

In mid-Febuary, I would have put my money on Faith the Vampire Slayer, and I think that Joss was leaning in that direction too. Having Eliza back on board was cool, but she's worth more than they can pay her, and she's managed to get much better worse elsewhere.

I think Joss likes big casts. Buffy started out with four and a half, and it's been going with at least eight regular cast members (i.e. there for at least half the season) for about five years now. Angel started with three, but has been at seven for a few years. It's caused some problems (Seth Green left because he never really had much to do), but I think that Joss likes the range of a larger cast. Firefly had nine regular cast members in the credits, and I think Joss was pointing at either SMG or Boreanaz last year when he was talking about how he loved that cast because there were no primadonnas. SMG for the last few years hasn't done as many of her own stunts. (Last I heard, she had three doubles). Boreanaz does a lot of his, but Mike Massa (his double), works very hard. James Marsters has been known to do a LOT of his own stunts.

If Angel is renewed, I would not put money on seeing Conner again next year, and I would put money on that being a major source of angst for Angel next year. I vaguely recall some groaning about the guy who plays Connor early on this season from someone fairly high up the totem pole over at Angel. Lorne could also be removed from the cast without too much pain, though I have a soft spot for Andy. Fred could die a painful death, and I wouldn't care. Gunn is good so long as the writer doesnt' try to get to cute with the slang. They need desperately to add some writers of color to the staff. I've bitched for years that Los Angeles is 40 pecent Latino, but you wouldnt' know it from watching Angel. I think it's because they have enough problems writing Gunn that they don't want to touch another ethnicity.

recommendations requested
 

CVS (don't laugh, I'm not a products snob) has a store brand self-tanner that is tinted, so that you can tell where you've put it. The results were decidedly not orange -- I'm quite pale and it looked natural. Also, it doesn't stink horribly, and you can't complain about the price. An equally pale friend used Banana Boat with very nice results, but I can't remember whether she said it was tinted.

I think I learned this on the FB, but do you know that there are entire websites devoted to self-tanning, with how-to hints and product recommendations and the like?

Porn in the Workplace
 

At the firm I referenced, they called it THE prom as well. It was that sort of creepy crawly event where horny partners drank too much and proceeded to hit on associates, where foolish young associates drank too much and threw up in the limo/bathroom/partner's hotel room, where some clueless geek associate's wife wore the most god awful dress (didn't grandma have a lampshade on the nightstand that looked like that frilly mess of a dress?) that you couldn't help but smirk when he introduced her and where the slimiest partners brought paid escorts as dates.

It was that sort of creepy crawly event that clinches the decision to polish off the old resume because you realize that if you spend ONE MORE MINUTE with these people you're going to start hating yourself until you die. It's the sort of creepy crawly event that makes you keep a bottle of Johnny Walker black in your desk drawer. And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?

And you take great pleasure in resigning from that firm.

AM(because just when you think you're past the trauma of THE prom, they send out a firm-wide e-mail ordering you to attend the dreaded FIRM RETREAT)M

recommendations requested
 

Allure (I think?) has, in the May issue, an article about different artificial tanning services. Not, of course, ones you do yourself -- either at salons or apparently there are places offering spray-on tan -- it's like a shower stall with spray coming out of the wall. It has a guide color (i.e. tinting so you can see where you've gotten sprayed already) that you wash off after a few hours.

Which reminds me, I was going to ask if anyone had tried this. So, has anyone?

EDIT: The reason I'm interested is it's only like $25, instead of the $100+ spas charge to apply self-tanner.