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Wednesday, March 30, 2005
The Office, Not The Office
The second episode of the American version of The Office aired last night, and the debate is hot and heavy all over the Internet. My take on the series so far is that I would think it was funny, if I had never seen the Brit version of the show. Having been a fan of the original, I have to agree with a Television Without Pity message board poster who (to turn it into an Arrested Development reference-- everything turns into an Arrested Development reference, but I digress) described it as "weird brother of prime rib". That said, I think it's not terrible, and am rooting for it anyway because at least it's not Life on a Stick (which looks completely terrible). But the Comic Book Guy in me will give credit where credit is due. The funniest was Steve Carell's Michael Scott talking about his heroes: "What they've done for the world... it's incalcl..bubble."  Steve Carell as NotDavidBrent Slate: Surfergirl: What Have You Done With My Office? Television Without Pity: The Office forum Zap2it: 'Office' Debut Sticks It to FOX's 'Life' posted by sheryl | 7:28 PM | comments (1)
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Kimora Lee Simmons: I will beat a bitch's ass!
I finally finished reading the lengthy article on Kimora Lee Simmons in the current Vanity Fair. Between her threats of "beating a bitch's ass" and stories of how all the bitches want her man, and stories about her shopping for new Birkin bags on St. Barth's, I somehow got the impression that Kimora is one rich crazy-ass diva. More on her crazed escapades can be found here.  Kimora working that booking photo posted by sheryl | 7:41 AM | comments (1)
Monday, March 28, 2005
My kid is a star!
My friend Martha, who wrote a great book about her pregnancy (which you can find here) was featured in an NYT article about excessive parental pride. Go Martha! Is there such a thing as excessive forgetfulness of parental pride? If so, I might be guilty. Just last month I finally started carrying pictures of my kids in my wallet after, oh, eight years or so. Remind me to tell funny stories about them! So to catch up with my duties, here is a picture of Soleil, Sofia and Lucy (Martha's daughter) playing with the World's Cheapest Toys. (And Dari in the background looking for something naughty to do.)  Sofia (tallest), Soleil (middle), Lucy (shortest). All you need are scissors! NY Times: The Age of Dissonance: Baby Pictures at 10 Paces posted by sheryl | 7:35 PM | comments (0)
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 Speaking of Manolo, why? why? why???!!! The other reason I love the Manolo: He thinks Karl Lagerfeld is pure evil. posted by sheryl | 10:22 PM | comments (0)
The Manolo, he loves the shoes those that are super fantastic!
This blog is hilarious! I love how it's written in wacko Euro-Engrish.  Manolo wisdom on Manolo-shilled shirts posted by sheryl | 10:12 PM | comments (0)
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Tour Alton's kitchen
There is an Ipix 360 tour of Alton Brown's kitchen remodel on the Food Network website. Okay, I'm confused. This looks totally like the old white kitchen that his early shows were taped in, except remodeled. Kyle and I were always under the impression that he had moved into a different house with the show's current ginormous kitchen. I'm assuming that the huge kitchen is a set? Dunno. But anyway, here's a link to his new kitchen, which looks pretty good (but not as good as the Good Eats kitchen, and not anywhere close to Michael "Expensive Entertaining" Chiarello's kitchen, which is my favorite kitchen on TV). Enjoy! Food Network: Tour AB's kitchen remodel My previous entry on meeting AB  Dayum! Nice vent, AB! posted by sheryl | 9:54 PM | comments (0)
Where's David Brent? With the Thursday premiere of the American version of The Office, NY Times follows up on Ricky Gervais, a.k.a. David Brent, to see how life is going post-Office. (Ugh, that pun was kind of David Brentish). I love how Ricky also loves Arrested Development and is writing a Simpsons episode! For me that would be, like, the trifecta: AD, Simpsons and The Office all rolled into one giant blunt of goodness. Yay! I have hopes for the American version of The Office, but have been completely disappointed by the previews. It has that funny guy who used to be on the Daily Show, but somehow it just feels more... slapstick or something, not like that awkward "I'm so embarrassed for him" feeling that you would get while watching the British series. The previews definitely feel more sitcommy. And I can't imagine a better character than David Brent. But I'll watch at least the first episode anyway. Let's hope they don't screw it up too much! NY Times: Ricky Gervais' life, After 'The Office'  David Brent (Ricky Gervais) embarrassing himself as usual posted by sheryl | 9:47 PM | comments (0)
According to the NY Times, if you don't secure your Wi-Fi network, the terrorists win! posted by sheryl | 6:14 PM | comments (0)
Monday, March 21, 2005 Don't ever get out of bed... And I thought the dresses I saw on Project Runway were crazy! This is from the Viktor & Rolf Paris show. :) posted by sheryl | 9:40 PM | comments (0)
Project Runway II is coming! From an item in TVGuide.com: PROJECT GREENLIT: Bravo has sewn up a deal for a 10-episode second season of Project Runway, to debut this summer. Producers are expected to stick with the same successful formula of pitting 11 up-and-coming fashion designers against one crazy middle-aged hag.Hee! If they can get another EvilPepper, I will be watching this show like I have one channel. In other PR news, Jay has a doppelganger, according to NY magazine. He goes by 'Jake'-- how funny is that?! posted by sheryl | 9:28 PM | comments (0)
It Bags Speaking of Parade purses, NYT has a great slideshow on iconic bags and their resemblance to historical items. It's interesting, and the prices are disgusting, all at the same time. Well, only interesting if you're like me and obsessed with whatever Coach comes out with each season. NY Times slideshow: The Status Bag My new favorite bag site: The Bag Lady  A $9000 feathery Fendi, anyone? posted by sheryl | 9:11 PM | comments (0)
Nintondo Gam Boy Advanse So because I got Sofia a Game Boy for her birthday (part for her, part for me!) I've been buying a mess of games on eBay. Just to keep me on my toes, I'm discovering that there are tons of bootlegs out there, particularly if the item location is Hong Kong or anywhere in Asia, for that matter. But just to be sure, I check the others' feedback. This was a funny piece of feedback for a seller that is supposedly located in Canada: BEWARE!!!!!THIS PERSON SELLS IS BOOTLEGS CHECK YOUR CARTRIDGES THEY SAY NINTONDO Kind of like Couch bags or Parade purses, right? Just a few days ago, I was teasing my friend Kay that she should check her Chanel sunglasses to make sure they don't say "Daniel" and have 2 D's facing each other instead of 2 C's. Hee! posted by sheryl | 6:03 PM | comments (0)
Thursday, March 17, 2005 Save the Bluths! E Online has a poll called "Save One Show". Go there and vote for my beloved Arrested Development! (which airs at 8:30 pm on Sundays, by the way. hee!) E Online's Save One Show Poll E Online's related article posted by sheryl | 1:42 AM | comments (0)
Watch out for those mints! I was talking with my friends Leslie and Chris today about the mint bowls you find at restaurants near the register. Leslie said that she never takes anything unwrapped because she heard that the number one substance found on said mints is urine. To imitate Dari: Ewww! And don't forget that this would stretch to those community candy bowls in the office, so don't go near the M&M's unless you want special "seasoning". Gross! I'm thinking this extends to wrapped candy in a bowl, right? Because if the "seasoning" is getting around unwrapped candy, it's gotta be rampant in the wrapped candy as well. Which you pick up. And unwrap. And touch again to put the candy in your mouth. !!! I decided to look this up, and the trusty old Snopes website (the urban legends site) has an entry on it. It turns out that the urine content isn't necessarily so, and another article I found from an Indiana news station ran tests on mint bowls and didn't turn up any harmful bacteria. It doesn't matter that much to me; as a crazy germaphobe, I stay clear anyway of the community bowls. Ick! Snopes: Urine Good Hands WNDU.com: Restaurant freebies: What you really get posted by sheryl | 1:01 AM | comments (0)
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Obnoxious Neighbors Oh no, the Things I Hate About My Flatmate blogger has moved out of the apartment! And speaking of lousy neighbors, there was another party in the HellHouse last Friday. Three sets of neighbors called the po-po, and I guess this time the cops actually issued them a ticket for breaking the noise ordinance. Judy (she lives across the street) said that before the police came, there were a bunch of guys standing on the balcony of HellHouse (HH from here on out) and throwing beer bottles down onto the driveway. WTF??! How stoopid is that? Then, a friend of theirs drove into the driveway and went upstairs, and they started throwing bottles onto his car. OMG, these people are missing brain cells. The most amazing thing about the whole thing is that even though the police came at 1:30 and people cleared out, I still woke up with a start at 4:30 a.m. to a group of noisy guys shouting on the Pissing Deck right outside our window. Kyle eventually got fed up and went outside to tell them to shut it. So our letter-writing campaign to the absentee landlords appears to be somewhat successful. The owners' property manager called us and basically said she would notify the tenants about their behavior and if things don't change, she'll evict them. We didn't expect that much, so hopefully they'll just put an end to the parties so they don't end up having to be kicked out. Either way is fine by me, though! The problem with these girls (I think there are four of them) is that they have absolutely no control over their guests. I mean, they were issued a ticket, which costs them money, and they still couldn't keep their "friends" under control. That's the scariest part is that their guests don't give a crap, so we've always been afraid of their "I don't give a shit" attitude and what they might do to our property. Here's the view of our roof right after a party, and you can't even see the 50 cigarette butts that we find up there:
Our neighbors on the other side of HH have also written a letter. The interesting thing is that on Friday night, there was another party going on in one of the houses behind our house (yes, this is the hell of living in a university district) so Kyle went over there. They totally put it in check, and seemed really willing to work with us, so I don't think it's just that the HH neighbors are young, I think it's just because they don't have control. We'll see how this progresses. Previous HH entries: The Pissing Deck, Part II More Ick! posted by sheryl | 6:56 PM | comments (0)
Tuesday, March 15, 2005 That guy who got fired on the Apprentice last week looks like a fat Vince Vaughn.  Fat Vince Vaughn, you're fired! posted by sheryl | 1:33 AM | comments (0)
Tuesday, March 08, 2005 I gotta tell ya, I think this is the coolest bike we ever built Hee hee -- the American Chopper drinking game: Drink when: From the forums at Television Without Pity. I have a few more to add:
Hilarity and hijinx ensue! posted by sheryl | 9:59 PM | comments (0)
Monday, March 07, 2005 Crooks and Choppers I am totally obsessed with a new show called It Takes a Thief on the Discovery Channel. The premise is that these two ex-burglars drive around, choose a house, then talk the owners into letting them break in. In reward for their trouble, the owners receive a total security upgrade of their property, designed by the ex-burglar who hosts the show (Jon is the one who breaks into the house, Matt is the one who hosts the show and talks the owners into this 'adventure'. The show is addictive. The owners watch in shock from a remote location while Jon breaks into their houses and completely trashes and ransacks them, all the while packing up and taking their valuable property. They then get to meet Jon (all of them talk shmack about "punching his lights out" etc. then when they meet him they meekly shake his hand-- hee hee), and he tells them how easy their house was to break into. The show is also prescriptive-- Matt walks the owners through a security upgrade the day after Jon burglarizes the place, pointing out all the security weaknesses of the house: valuable documents (passports, blank checks, etc.) unlocked, no bolted safe in the house, old windows and doors that are easy to kick in, useless dogs that don't bark, neighbors that don't care (Jon in one episode walks past the owners' neighbor, while carrying a suitcase, golfclubs and a cooler out of the house), and a host of other problems. The thing that's so addictive about it is 1) the formula, and 2) these guys just seem like regular, normal good-looking dudes. Jon looks like an eyelash-y Edward Norton, and Matt looks like an ex jolly frat boy. In one episode, the owners are three late-twenties guys sharing a house that one of them inherited. Jon was like, "Do you know how many guys like you I meet in bars and before you know it you've told me your vacation plans, or about your expensive hobbies?" And it's guys like those that don't lock their doors-- at the end of each episode, Jon and Matt try to get back into the house a few weeks later. With the house with the three guys, they simply walk through an unlocked front door. Matt is clearly disappointed with these morons.  Edward Norton and Fratboy One reason the formula works is because all the homeowners are consistently delusional about their home security. They are always like "Well, I'll protect my family if someone gets in" or "the dogs will protect us if someone gets in" but are never really thinking about their house when no one is there, which is when these guys break in. They are then consistently ragingly upset while watching this guy throw all their underwear out of their dressers, and suddenly they feel "violated", and they no longer feel safe. Duh! Just because you're not there doesn't mean it matters less! posted by sheryl | 6:10 PM | comments (0)
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 The Pissing Deck, Part II Our obnoxious neighbors had another party last night. It went until 4:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m.!) on a Monday night (Monday night!). Our previous request to them was to keep people off the deck on weeknights (Sunday-Thursday) by 9:00 p.m., and on weekends by midnight. I'm guessing their logic was that people weren't hanging out on the deck continuously last night. But is it better that people were using the deck as an entry point to get in and out of the house until 4:30 a.m.?! NO. Not to mention the peeing off the deck. We have had this problem with them before, if you can believe it. What is wrong with these people? Were they raised in places where there are only outhouses? It just doesn't make sense to me-- everyone I have mentioned this to has been completely disgusted by the idea of someone pissing off a second-story deck. So what in their social circle makes it acceptable? And they are still using our roof as a trash can-- someone threw a lighter onto our roof which is 1) shitty and 2) dangerous! It did not have fluid in it anymore, but still! At around 4:15 I had to yell out the window that there was a baby in the house that was trying to sleep. So they went inside, then went out the front door and, according to Kyle, started running and shouting in the street. We had even called the police for the first time to report the noise disturbance, but they did not go up to the house because for whatever reason, the noise had died down when the police were walking up to the house.  This is the view from my bedroom window when our trashy neighbors are having a party I'm thinking there's no being nice anymore. What I want to do now is basically put a motion sensor floodlight pointed directly at the deck, so anyone who goes out there at night can't see anything because of the light. Or, better yet, figure out ways that the deck is not to code (and trust me, "not up to code" is written all over it) and get the damn thing torn down. In the meantime, we'll try to get a "call the po-po" strategy going with our neighbors-- maybe if all of us call the police about the same party, they will actually go to the door of the house this time and break it up. We are now contacting the landlords and it's Smackdown in Seattle time! posted by sheryl | 7:10 PM | comments (0)
Fug the Oscars And for some actually good Oscar dress commentary (unlike Starr Jones, ugh), MSNBC got the GoFugYourself.com girls. Yay! MSNBC: Heather and Jessica comment on Oscar fashion posted by sheryl | 1:32 AM | comments (0)
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Welcome to Sheryl's website, where I talk about my family's travels and the joys (and ordeals) of living as an expat. Oh, and to read more about my obsession with food, check out my food blog, Crispy Waffle. ARCHIVES FRIENDS NETHERLANDS/EXPAT DAILY READS FOOD OBSESSED
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