Merry Christmas from Amy and Sadie

So, I am starting my annual tradition of my favorite holiday videos. Have a great Christmas, Hannukah, Kwaanza, or just a nice winter!

Got My Holiday Spirit!

So, I watched a show last night called "The Secret Millionaire". It got very dusty in our house at the end of the show. In it, a millionaire lives in a depressed area and interacts with people. At the end of 2 weeks they come back and give people and their charities anywhere from $100,000 and up to people they want to.

Good works are praised and the rich people are giving their own money. It does my heart good to see things like that. I hope that all of us can have some generosity in our hearts during the holidays. Donating time, leaving extra tips, and helping people out matter as much as money.

If you want more information, go to the website below.

http://www.fox.com/secretmillionaire

Thank you Barack Obama

Now, Marty McFly never has to tell Mayor Goldie Wilson he can be mayor. He'll believe it on his own.

VOTE

VOTE!!!!!VOTE!!!!!VOTE!!!!!VOTE!!!!!

We can change the world today.

When I Grow Up...

I want to be Thornton Melon when I grow up.



Seriously, who doesn't.

My Oral Surgery

This video is a re-enactment of my recent tooth extraction. Jude Law is playing the role of Amy Patrick in this scene.
I am finally losing the pizza burn sensation and stitches.
Hopefully, I will have an actual tooth and not an Amy Winehouse gaping mouth hole by the end of this month.

My Brain Hurts

I just watched a movie where Alan Payne played a Puerto Rican and Renee Zellweger played a Hasidic Jew.

I need to go lie down.

Best Way to Describe the Whole Thing

I used to get so worked up by Elisabeth Hassleback on "The View" that I wrote an angry letter. Now, she just makes me laugh. I think E! online did the best job summarizing her drama with the N word. I don't mean to rain on her parade but her party might have been Lincoln's at one time, but Nixon employed the Southern strategy to make sure that blue collar and southern whites voted against their best interests by using racism.
But, that is not the point.
The point is, Elisabeth is a naive dolt who needs to learn about the world around her. How she lives every day in NYC, I'll never know.

Per E! Online:
"Today in Viewland, what started out as a discussion over the hypocrisy of Rev. Jesse Jackson using the N-word on Fox News in an off-air comment quickly turned into a heated discussion between Elisabeth Hasselbeck and herself.
Elisabeth doesn’t believe anybody, regardless of race, should ever use the N-word, because she’s seen the movie Crash. Sherri Shepherd and Whoopi both try to explain their perspectives, but they can't get a word in because Elisabeth has worked herself up so much, she's crying by the end.
And that, dear readers, is why Crash beat out Brokeback Mountain for the Best Picture Oscar."

PS- Even Barabra told her she was only talking and not listening!

My Weird Crush

Anyone who knows me knows that I have two types of guys I am attracted to. There are tall, athletic type guys with race unimportant. I like a taller thin guy. (David Bowie, Alonzo Mourning, Ed Norton)
I also have a weird obsession with short dudes with dark hair that I am always crushing on. (Freddy Rodriguez, Hal Sparks, Adam Levine)
But, I now have a new crush. Rachel Maddow of Air America who is a frequent guest and guest host on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. She is really funny and smart and has that cute dykey look that not many people can pull off.
So, this post is for you Rachel.

What do these people have in common?







Only my love for all of them.

A Long Time...

It's been a long time since I did any kind of real blogging. I used to write about music, movies, books, TV, sports. Whatever.
But...
I had a baby.
Lately my time has been all mommy all the time. But, I want to start writing more. I will be writing more starting tomorrow.
Hope you enjoy it.

Walking on the Lower East Side...

I saw a sign that said this...
"Plus Size Skinny Jeans"

Nothing else necessary!

20th Anniversaries Make Me Feel Old

Since this weekend, MTV and MTV2 have been commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Yo! MTV Raps. This has me feeling just a bit old. "Why Amy?" you might ask. I'll tell you why my dear readers. I feel old because I remember when Yo! MTV Raps first came on TV.

I was 12 years old and in 8th grade. I was introduced to rap by several cousins. At that time, it was popular in big cities but was just making inroads into suburban and rural areas. In my town, there were only a few rap fans. Most people like top 40 or country music. My tastes made me a bit of an outcast. My best friend, Eroica, and myself would try to be home at 3pm ahrsp to watch Yo! MTV Raps. You would see videos that were not on all day.

Now, things have changed. MTV rarely shows videos and MTV2 has enough rap to make anyone know a few songs. But, one thing has kind of changed that I find completely ridiculous.

(tangent below)
Before I go on, let me start this by saying, I am a 32 year-old white mother of an infant. I went to college and got a master's degree. I am stating all this because I don't want what I say to be dismissed.
I AM TIRED OF EVERY WORD BEING CENSORED IN A RAP VIDEO!!!!!

Ok, curses not allowed by the FCC and the N-word are understandable. But, currently any words related to drugs, robbing, or murder are beeped. You can't say "gat" in any context, "ho" in any context. or any words that might be related to the topics. Never mind the words are being use in a metaphorical way. There is no way you will hear it.

Why does this bother me?

Because, currently MTV rides on the backs of rap. When it was a niche market they should most videos (excluding things like By the Time I get to Arizona by PE) with only the most extreme curses bleeped. Now, it's everything. What happened? Did the amount of white faces ingesting the videos mean things had to change. If anyone out there knows, please write your girl.
(end of tangent)

But, all week MTV2 celebrated the anniversary of Yo! MTV Raps. I sat and watched many of the specials and watched a huge amount of old school videos. The whole thing left me both happy and sad. The memories it brought up made me smile and think about the time I spent with these artists and their work.

But, I also realized that I am now an old person. 20 year anniversaries are happening for things I remember...well.

My Favorite NY Places

Part One:
The Fulton Mall
Brooklyn, NY

I have decided to write an on-going series of pieces about some of my favorite places in NY. I want to cover the boroughs I enjoy and the things I like to do in these places. I wanted to start with a place near my house that doesn't get a lot of love, the Fulton Mall.

The Fulton Mall is not pretty. In fact, it is pretty ugly. Every awning has, like, fifteen qualifiers (ex. Pagers, Sneakers, Leather, DVD) and none of the stores are exactly neat and organized. And that is why I love them. On both sides of the mall, gentrification has hit hard. Brooklyn Heights and the Promenade surround the enterance of the mall. BAM, Mark Morris, and the Atlantic Center loom at the end of the mall. No matter what happens on either side of the mall, the mall stays the same.

The charm of the mall is the fact that it seems preserved in amber. The stores remind you that NY used to have a hip-hop beating heart. The stores might as well all be named "B-Boy Megamart". The stores feature CD's, bootleg DVD's, electronics, cell phones, and all the trappings of "urban" culture. But, some of the trappings are whimsical. The dearth of airbrushing spots makes one wonder when you stepped into Myrtle Beach. There are several shops that anchor the mall like Duane Reade and Cookies. But, what makes the mall run is the small shops providing a variety of goods and services.

Unfortunately not everything in the mall can stay the same. Beat Street Records has closed and now you have to hit web sites and few small places in the city for vinyl. However, the store lives on forever in Jay-Z's video for "99 Problems".

The mall seems to stay the same. When the weather is good the crowds surge. The street vendors are on every square inch of pavement (look for the guy selling Evisu, True Religion, and other high end jeans). It can smell a little weird. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Holy S@!T!!!!

Go read this blog. I almost wet my pants!!!!

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com

TV on DVD

There's a bit that Jim Gaffigan does about watching a movie ten years after it came out. You see it on cable and then want to talk about it. But, noone wants to talk to you about it because they saw it TEN YEARS AGO!!!!

Where am I going with this? I am recommending both "The Wire" and "Battlestar Galactica" to watch on DVD. I think that both of these shows benefit from watching in a chunk and really enveloping yourself in the experience. Both shows have small episode-centric plots along with expansive overarching stories. They develop their characters and engage you in ethical debates along with nerdy water-cooler talk. Both shows have an Altmanesque and Dickensian sensibility.

The first four seasons of "The Wire" are on DVD and the final season will be out soon. "Battlestar Galactica" has the mini-series, first 3 seasons, and the "Razor" prequel. The final season of BSG starts this Friday. Both shows are amazing and feature some of the best writing on TV.

Good writing leads me to my next tangent. My husband and I watched "Michael Clayton" on DVD. It was a tightly directed and written movie. My husband was like, "Why did I like that movie so much?" I basically stated in this day and age very few scripts and films last as long as they need too. Many are too long. Roger Ebert has a theory that states: all good movies can last four hours and you will not feel it, a bad movie can last one hour and you will check your watch. I cannot state how much I believe this. Any good experience in entertainment can last as long as it needs to.

It's a shame that a competent piece of filmmaking can get you that excited. But, as long as Michael Bay keeps making "awesome" movies and shows like "Rock of Love 2" get greenlit, gems like "Michael Clayton", BSG, and "The Wire" will get gobbled up by hungry viewers.

All of this comes down to demographics. White men aged 18-35 consume the most entertainment. So, until the rest of us ask for more, we aren't going to get it.

Getting Shots

So, today was Sadie's first round of vaccinations. She got four shots and an oral vaccine. She cried and got so upset she pooped her pants. But, her pain was over almost immediately and she has been eating and sleeping pretty much non-stop since she got home. The doctor was great. She had me hold Sadie's hand and focus her on me while she did it from the side silently and didn't do a lot of build up.

It was a tough decision to make. I have read many things about vaccines, autism, and the like. There is no definative answers and it is still being decided. There are 2 things that are not disputed. Mercury has not been in vaccines since 2001 and boys are more affected than girls. If I had a son, I will be honest, it would be a tougher decision for me.

I also feel that maybe increased sensativity to autism (spectrum disorder) has made parents and the general public see more cases and that it is just coincidence. But, I don't really know.

Needless to say, the 1st round is over. Sadie survivied. I survived. It will get easier.

Just like parenting.

I'm Toxic!

Joe convinced me to order Kinoki Foot Pads. He is a sucker for anything vaugly Asian and holisitic seeming. I'm pretty sure he was some kind of Japanese peasant in a former life. I digress. So, the whole thing with these pads is that you place them on alternating feet every night. Slowly the pads get less gross because your toxins have been leached out of your feet.

Much of this seems like Eastern philosophy hokum. It also plays into the whole idea of bodily humors. I'm pretty sure that idea went out of style after the Restoration.

And yet, I am using them for the past few days. I was hoping to see what would happen. And guess what? After two days my bodily humors are still full of crap. I am still pulling off pitch black foot pads. I have to say, I'm a little nervous. What if I have to use foot pads for the next ten years. Will they ever clear up? I'm starting to worry.

So, I know they are nothing but a scam and yet I am drawn in. What is it that makes rational humans believe nonsense and pseudo science? I don't think I'll ever know.

But, should my feet finally get clean, I will let you know.

Guess Who's Back?

So, I've finally gotten back to as close to normal as I think I'm ever going to get. I have been adjusting to motherhood and still trying to be borderline creative. So, I finally had a big gripe and I needed to discuss it.
But, before we get to that, I wanted to let my tens of readers know that I have created a blog called http://sadiequinn.blogspot.com. You can go there for baby pics, stories, and links. I am doing this so as not to bore everyone with baby stuff. Now, I will only bore interested parties.

Now, on to my gripe...

So, there is a commercial on Starz talking about Black History Month. In the commercial this white female comic says, "Notice how comics talk about their most painful moments? One man made that happen." She is talking about Richard Pryor. We then cut to a scene of her doing comedy. She is doing some of the most hack, girly, my dating history type comedy. This whole thing bothers me. There was not one person available to talk about truly painful experiences? And, why a white female comic? Is it to show how Pryor influences so many? Then why not actually show someone who is honoring him, not doing some "safe" comedy.

If anyone else has seen this commercial and has an opinion, let me know. Maybe I'm off base, but I feel like Pryor would eat this woman for dinner.

As I watched the commercial I thought about when I performed for Paul Mooney. He saw me and heard my name and proceeded to say, "What's your name? Amy? That's cute. Tell your jokes." I proceeded to go full force and do my A material. I had to work hard to get some dap from Mooney, but I did. And, I didn't tell any jokes about blind dates.



"Talking about blind dates. Bitch please. Unless that date set you on fire I don't want to hear it!"

Before this Baby Pops...

I'm very close to dropping this baby like a Lil' Wayne mixtape. I thought before I went to mommy land for a bit I would recommend anyone with an iPod or iTunes download the first season of The State on your system.

The State was a first rate sketch show with a young cats. Many of them now can be seen in things like Renio 911, Stella, and the movie The Ten. Check it out. For old fans it's a great find. If you never watched it, check it out.

http://www.the-state.com/

http://www.itunes.com