Re: This is the thread where the fringster comes back with teeth
 

if you need a slug, the ginger brandy is better

Re: This is the thread where the fringster comes back with teeth
 

Do we need to send you a care package from the liquor store? I can't believe that in an enlightened, Obama led world, there are people who go without decent booze.

Why would you do that to good food? Save them to serve to Hank when he comes by.

Booze Rx for Fringey
 

You should have your doctor tell the parental units that a glass of red wine with meals is good for you. Then you won't have to find recipes with booze in them just so you can have something to drink!

Sweet
 

Sometimes the Vows column of the NYT is really sweet. This is one of those times.

Warning: mushy "old people reconnecting after many years" story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/fa...1&ref=weddings

Kanye
 

Much respect to Kanye and all, although I'm not really a fan. But I read this morning that he is outraged by the slight to Beyonce's video, which later won best video or something. He calls it the best video ever. I like good music videos, even if I don't like the music, so I checked out the video this morning despite the fact that I think the song is just fucking awful. The video is just a dance routine. Nothing crazy or super clever. Minimalist feel to it. So I am asking you, why is this video so fucking good? I don't feel qualified to judge the dance routine, but it did not seem particularly compelling. A lot of finger wagging and butt slapping, which is all good, but best video ever? By best video ever, does he just mean that it is the video that happens to go along with what he considers to be the best song ever? Or is there something special or magical about the actual video that I am missing.

Re: Kanye
 

It was fake. The controversy.

He did the same thing to Justice at the WMA and that was organic.

The Beyoncé/Taylor Swift move at the end was definitely manufactured by MTV productions.

Re: Kanye
 

did you have the 3-D glasses?

Lady GaGa
 

WTF?

Now, I will admit I have paid actual money for a couple of her mp3s when I realized I could not get Poker Face out of my head for days, I thought she deserved it. I even have the Kid Cudi/Kanye version "Poke Her Face."

The fashion blogs follow her, though even as a performance artist, she's completely derivative of other better artists.

So, is it just because she refuses to wear pants or is there some magic to her I am missing?

Re: Kanye
 

There's a lot more of Beyonce's ass than of Taylor Swift's ass.

What I can't wrap my mind around is how a female performer wins "best video" but doesn't win "best female video". This violates all rules of logic that I learned, unless there's an unstated fact that the IAAF needs to look into. And when I look at Beyonce I see no reason to open an investigation of that sort.

Re: Kanye
 

O.K., fair enough. So assuming that is correct and Kanye does not really believe it is the best video of all time, it still won best video of the year. I have not seen many videos this year, and it could have been a particularly bad year for videos, but I still don't get what is so compelling about the Single Ladies video, and I watched it with 3D glasses, I watched it high, and I played it backwards while chanting "Paul is dead." Nothing. Just three chicks dancing around singing an awful fucking song that, as far as I can tell, is basically a long gloating rant about how "I'm married and your not and it's your fault." But I recognize that I am probably missing a lot of the nuance in Beyonce's message.

Re: Sweet
 

I thought it was very sad when she pointed out that he was a Republican. That made me cry.

Re: Lady GaGa
 

Another performer whose songs I hear solely in the context of spin class. That wine song makes me cringe. I don't think I have seen her, though. Is she hot? If she is hot and refuses to wear pants, as you say, I could maybe warm up to her.

Re: Kanye
 

That is not the message, and "your" slipping.

Re: Kanye
 

The really fabulous thing about the "Single Ladies" video is all the "interesting" (and I use that term in the truest Minnesota sense) youtube videos it spawned.

You think anyone did something like this with Taylor Swift's very sweet video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81RKV...eature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJlPEHL85Ig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urbbn...eature=related

And the true sign of a great video -- Justin Timberlake does a spoof on SNL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5qx-...eature=related

Re: Kanye
 

My eyes didn't need that--at any time, let alone early on Monday morning.

Re: Lady GaGa
 

WTF? People watch this shit?

And we all know that a-ha's "Take on Me" is the best video ever.

I don't think you can justify making fun of the younger generation's fashion tastes if you watch their shit videos and listen to their shit music.

Re: Lady GaGa
 

What kind of spin class do you take? The music selections seem horrendous.

In a desire to be helpful, I went looking for a spin class that might have better musc. I found it here. You don't have to thank me.

Re: Kanye
 

Is the message to the single guys that if you like the single ladies you need to get a ring on their fingers? I guess that makes more sense. God, what a dumb song.

Re: Lady GaGa
 

Well, the music varies from teacher to teacher, but horrendous is about right. I try to view it in a "what does not kill me makes me stronger, mentally and physically" sort of way. If you can keep a standing high rep set going and the only think to inspire you is Lady Gaga and the fake breasts of the cougar to your right, you can do anything!

Re: Kanye
 

Kanye West. does not care. about white people.

TM

Re: Kanye
 

She's really pretty.

Re: Lady GaGa
 

In a recent (not spin) class, the instructor played the dance remix of Neverending Story and I laughed and almost walked out, as the laughter made it hard to do crunches.

Re: Lady GaGa
 

Madness. The best videos ever:

David Lee Roth: "California Girls" and "Just a Gigolo."

Radiohead: "Suterranean Homesick Alien."

Glenn Frey: "Smuggler's Blues" (awful song, but filmed like a Miami Vice episode)

Stones: "Undercover of the Night"

Re: Kanye
 

You're not fooling us. We all know you go home at night, put on your leotard, and do your best Sasha Fierce impression in front of the mirror.

Re: Kanye
 

He fooled me. He fooled me real good.

I am no longer fooled.

Re: Lady GaGa
 

Wasn't the video just clips from a Miami Vice episode that heavily featured Smuggler's Blues? (Except perhaps Glen Frey playing the part of Crockett or something . . .)

Re: Lady GaGa
 

Billy Idol: "Rock the Cradle of Love."

ETA Beastie Boys: "Sabotage."

Re: Lady GaGa
 

Why none of these lists start with Thriller, for a host of reasons, is beyond me.

Re: Kanye
 

My god. You are dense. The message is from a woman to her ex. The ex gets mad and acts possessive when he realizes she has moved on from him. She says, "Don't be mad when you see that he want it. If you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it."

It isn't a message of "buy me a ring." It is a message of, "you didn't want to be with me, that was your choice, so live with it."

Re: Kanye
 

You are wrong. The message is for single ladies to go out and get big rings. Which is completely moronic. As if the song itself were not horrible enough, it has to come with this completely vapid and materialistic message.

Re: Kanye
 

I thought it was a shoutout to Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, but the Walk It Out redub seemed to accomplish what needed to be done in that vein a few years ago.

Re: Kanye
 

Translation: I'm so disappointed. My "Single Ladies" dance video has only 3 views on youtube.

Re: Lady GaGa
 

None of those has the emotional catharsis of Take On Me. With the possible exception of the Roth masterpiece.

Re: Lady GaGa
 

Bowie, Bowie, Bowie.

This one has been and will be the best one for a thousand years.

Re: Kanye
 

Mom loved it.

Moving on, I went to Chuck E. Cheese this weekend for the first time ever. Contrary to what I was made to believe here, there was no booze. No. Booze. Hank's portrayal of the place as a den of trashy iniquity where parents drank and smoked in the corner while the children ran amok in a Lord-of-the-Flies-esque game pit was completely inaccurate. It is basically a Disney-fied birthday factory with complete sensory overload. I can see why B'n'B's nephew or whatever is concerned about the giant mouse, though. He was pretty creepy.

Re: Lady GaGa
 

You win, by miles. I'm embarrassed to have even suggested a list without these.

I would also add the Beasties' "Hey Ladies." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy5iQubfV5s

ETA: "FREE. JAMES. BROWN." A classic for the ages.

Re: Kanye
 

Chuck E. Cheese. Oh, the humanity. You can never show your face at First Avenue again.

Re: Kanye
 

Thank you. This is quite helpful. It led me to the following, which makes me appreciate the Beyonce video much more. Best video? No way, and I still condemn the materialistic message that ABBA is in denial about, but I think I get it more now:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...eoid=34577810#

Re: Kanye
 

I don't think I've heard the song, but based on the title, I'm pretty sure the message is that if the single ladies would provide me with a cock ring, I could probably satisfy all of them. Nothing vapid or materialistic about that.

Re: Kanye
 

Here's that video with the song you love so much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRm4e...eature=related