win a date to the Oscars!

Halle-on-Adrien action...or was it Adrien-on-Halle?

Okay, so I’m pimping out a total stranger. I’d feel worse about it if it weren’t a stranger who was already advertising for companionship on Craigslist. Sue me; it didn’t say “do not forward/repost.” Those restrictions are, of course, sacred to me, as they should be to all right-thinking and discreet peoples.

So I find out, via Defamer, that this guy (and it is a guy, and furthermore an allegedly straight, single, blue-eyed blond one at that!) is a screenwriter type who needs a date for the Oscars. Writing Dreamworks off entirely, he asks that the date be of the opposite sex, and who are we to suggest otherwise, although rigidity in these matters is not exactly, shall we say, indicative of having the right DNA for Hollywood.

We at the ol’ raincoaster blog are here to help. Behold the original posting with contact deets:

Hello,

It looks like due to a huge screenwriting windfall they want to give me 2 tickets to the Oscars. Being single right now means, yes, I need a date. So I thought I’d try to find a “real” date with someone outside my ususal circle of friends.

I’m 38, successful, I’m told I’m good looking, blondish hair with blue eyes, 185 pounds and 6 feet tall. The only thing I ask is that you can be discrete [sic] when staring at celebrities, and of course don’t be embarrassing while we are at the after-parties. Drunk is fine (and fun), embarrassing is not. [ed- I think I’m in love]

I’d think we should meet up before for a drink and see if we hit it off. Please send a couple pictures when you reply, not just asking me to send one first. I posted this weeks ago and ended up with someone who flaked.

Thanks!

Location: Beverly Hills

Reply to: pers-280353013 at craigslist.org

Well, what are you waiting for?

Defamer commenter and talented researcher Adele H has thoughtfully made a list of all the nominated writers, which we paste here with links to whatever images we can find, for blond-blue-eyedness-comparison purposes:

“Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” (20th Century Fox)
Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer
Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips
“Children of Men” (Universal)
Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)
Screenplay by William Monahan
“Little Children” (New Line)
Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta
“Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight)
Screenplay by Patrick Marber
Original screenplay
“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
Written by Guillermo Arriaga
“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)
Screenplay by Iris Yamashita
Story by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis
“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
Written by Michael Arndt
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse)
Written by Guillermo del Toro
“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
Written by Peter Morgan 

She's on the market, boys!Too bad all the good-looking ones are not blond (or are invisible to Google; assistants, get posting those headshots to IMDB, stat!).

There: don’t say I never did nuthin’ for ya. In case it goes well, you should know that I LOVE weddings…so save me an invitation. I promise not to sell the location to Rupert Murdoch.

I’d liveblog it instead.

Of course, if that doesn’t work for the lad, there’s always Castadate:

Look, people are busy...

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the greatest interpretation of Total Eclipse of the Heart in the history of music

Or the future, either, come to think of it. In a world which contains Bonnie Tyler‘s pared-to-the-bone proto-emo wail as well as the postmodern Total Eclipse of Good Taste by the Norwegian novelty band Hurra Torpedo, performed on electric guitar and kitchen appliances, (and now, from Defamer, comes word that even that staggery goddess of the trailer park Tara Reid has taken a shot at this tatty survivor…perhaps the last ditty that will have her) there is simply no rendition, extraordinary or otherwise, that can compare to the immortal Kiki and Herb performing an all-too-heartfelt version of Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Poor Coco!

(as for the Squid tag…what do you think happened to her, eh?
Kids don’t dissolve in seawater, my friends)

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what you totally should have done for Valentine’s Day

Chuck Norris has a Valentine's present for ya 

For some reason, many men seem to feel that what women really want in a man is want is a yes man, ie someone who, no matter how outrageous her suggestion, always nods and says, “oh that sounds good.” I don’t know if these guys have watched too many episodes of SATC, or if they’re just cribbing off some lame Dave Barry short that  he phoned in one day on deadline, but it is not actually true.

Women of a certain, not-too-distant-from-myself type, may want to do things their way, but they would prefer that all involved understand that this is because their suggestion is the best, not because their fellow is a doormat.

Note that although said fellow may, in fact, actually BE a doormat, it’s probably best for him not to give this impression. Given their druthers, women tend to gravitate towards opinionated animals as pets, not the hokey-dokey labrador type. This is telling, fellas. When the leadership finds out, they’ll put a hit out on my ovaries just for telling you this stuff.

Anyway…

So, given that asking and doing exactly what she tells him is, as we’ve agreed, out, what should the ideal boyfriend do for his ladyfriend on the big V-Day?

Exactly what Chuck Norris tells him to.

I know most men just want to spend Valentine’s Day like any other day – eating Doritos and engaging in a little heavy petting with their girlfriends. V-Day “shebangs” are taxing: they require time, planning and extremely large biceps.

However, after extensive research, I’ve devised a simple strategy: just call Chuck Norris.

To explain, since I’ve been at the University, and am thus more acquainted with what I like to call those “hipster, indie types,” I’ve been privy to a lot of interesting conversations. Most of them concern imaginary battles between trendy “It” fantasy genres: Pirate vs. Ninja! Robot vs. Lumberjack! Space Warriors vs. Chuck Norris! OMG, who will win?!? The answer is simple: Chuck Norris ALWAYS wins….

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Valentine’s Day Sweetheart: The Jealous Astronaut

The Jealous Astronaut!If, like me, you grew up babysat not by living, breathing human beings but rather by the marvelously crude animated friends on the incredible flickering electric rectangle, you’ll love this.

The Jealous Astronaut...begin Transformation!We lost The Osmonds. We lost The Jackson Five. We lost The Partridge Family 2200AD . We lost Scooby Doo. We lost Josie and the Pussycats. We lost Kimba the White Lion and Speed Racer and G-Force and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

But now Metro passes along this gem for our animation-starved generation. Now we’ve got something to fill the hole in our aching souls: We have The Jealous Astronaut!

tranformation complete!What better muse for a post-millennial Valentine’s than an aging, obssessive, hygiene-impaired, would-be-adulterous rocket scientist? I sense another Douglas Coupland book coming on…

YouTube is over the jump if you don’t want to wait for that Flash to load up.
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a turning point in modern politics: just watch me

 

Humanity is born free, yet everywhere it is … in thrall to the military-industrial complex using threats of terrorism to manipulate the cowed multitudes.

My question is this: why, when Pierre Elliot Trudeau imposed the War Measures Act (as a response to the kidnapping of only two individuals and with no sign of a war) did we accept this as right and good, yet when Tony Blair and George W. Bush impose similar measures (and they are both actively fighting wars…well, the poor people in their countries are; and there have been terrorist attacks in each of their countries which have killed a significant number of regular citizens) we reject it as nothing more than a cynical fascist control technique?

For me, I have an excuse: I was little when Trudeau ruled the Earth. But even then I was anti-fascist. I don’t think there’s any question about whether or not the technique if fascist: it is. The question is why did it seem right then but not now?

Is it personality-driven? Is it the charm factor? Is it because Trudeau was so obviously more intelligent than either Blair or Bush? or, come to think of it, more intelligent than the citizenry and we damn well knew it? Blair‘s no moron, though; is it because he’s so much Bush‘s catamite that he gets zero IQ points by association (or as a penalty for bad taste)? And can you imagine Stephen “RoboTory” Harper getting away with something like that? He’d be run out of Ottawa at the head of a mob armed with insulated buckets of boiling Steeped Tea.

Pierre Trudeau‘s speech announcing the imposition of the War Measures Act is after the jump, and very interesting reading it makes, too:

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