Signs That You Are Addicted To "The Wire"

I'm thinking that Netflix makes it OK to geek out about shows that are years old.  Everyone else has moved on, and this is old news to all you 1%-ers with HBO (haha, kidding), but I'm now realizing that "The Wire" IS one of the best television shows ever.  It's true.  Slate, Entertainment Weekly, my former coworker Kyle, etc. always told me that, but now that I've actually watched it, I'm become one of the disciples as well.  I can't stop talking about it.  "Masterful" is a strong word, but heck, it applies.  You care so much about the characters and the storylines are woven together so well.

Anytime I meet someone who is from or lives in Baltimore, I always ask them about the show.  That must be annoying, but I can't help myself.  I talked to a guy from Baltimore at a party who said that he saw Proposition Joe riding the bus.  That was an enthralling piece of news, for some reason.

I don't know if this is the healthiest addiction though, especially since I check the crime stats too often as it is for my occasionally dodgy D.C. neighborhood.  "The Wire" is starting to affect my world view.  Last week, I told my coworker I needed to send him a 9 millimeter file.  I meant a 9 megabyte file. Whoops!  Then I went to watch "The Ides of the March," and the whole time I thought, "He's going to get killed, he knows way too much!"

Joe and I just finished watching season four, and I'm hoping against hope that season five has more happy endings.  I want it to be more like a TV show, but alas, it's more like life.  I keep thinking, how can the good guys possibly win?  They have to follow a moral/legal code, while the bad guys have the power to do anything they want, by any means necessary.  That's my black and white thought for a show that is all gray areas.

So what show should I watch after I finish this one (sob)?  I don't have a TV, I'm relying only on Netflix, so please steer me to something good!

Halloween in Fairfax

I happened to be at my parents' house on Halloween night, and was given the task of passing out candy to the little trick or treaters.  My mom bought six bags of candy, and I thought that was way too much.  But sure enough, at 6:30 p.m. there was a knock at the door, and before I knew it, the candy was almost gone. The kids who stopped by were pretty darn cute, but they made me feel out of touch in terms of 2011 cartoon knowledge.  I asked a little girl with blue Pippy Longstockings braids who she was supposed to be, and she held up a tiny doll dressed like her.  "I'm a Loully," she said.  Duh.  Well, okay. I left the bowl of Halloween candy out next to the door, and the next day my mom called to tell me that Rain the dog had eaten all the candy when no one was looking, wrappers and all.  Luckily, I had handed out most of it.  I'd also eaten a good chunk of the candy, including all the dark chocolate, which is dangerous for dogs.  So poor Rain had no adverse effects from her little Halloween adventure. "Some might say that I'm a hero for eating the candy so the dog didn't end up eating it," I told Joe. "You know, if you had put the bowl away in the first place, the dog wouldn't have gotten into it at all," he said. Hmm, yes.  We aren't used to misbehaving dogs.  I suppose this is a good a time as any to note that our beloved dog Hunter has passed on to the rainbow bridge - Halloween would've been his 16th birthday.  That is really old for a dog, I know, but I had begun to believe he would never die.  He'd just always been there, for the majority of my life.  I've been meaning to write a little tribute to him, but let's just say he was practically perfect, much-loved and had the best life a dog could ever have.  He would never have eaten the candy.  Now that Hunter is gone, Rain has no role models in her life and is clearly acting out.

Trick or Treaters, I'm Worried About You!

Halloween 2011 marked my laziest Halloween ever. I thought about recycling last year's Andrew WK costume. No one understood it last year and it deserves another chance. Plus, this year he had a contest for the best Andrew WK impersonator and the winner got a congratulatory phone call from the man himself. Surely I would be in the running? I ran out of contact lenses, so I would have to go as the "bookish" Andrew WK.

But no, I was so lazy that I didn't even bother putting on the Andrew WK uniform of white jeans and sneakers.  I had a party for work on Saturday evening, so I just showed up at Carolyn's boyfriend's Halloween party wearing my formal wear, and Carolyn was nice enough to give me a witch's hat.  Done and done.  They went all out for the party, with fake skeletons, dry ice, strobe lights and a lethal looking Halloween punch.  So fun!  Plus you couldn't get a better location, right near the Black Cat.

I left after 2 a.m. and the cabs were just not stopping.  I had to wait for the bus, but I didn't mind since you can't find a better day for people watching than Halloween.  There was a fake Princess Beatrice arguing with her boyfriend while wearing that ridiculous hat.  As I walked to the bus stop, a wasted guy started yelling at me. He was dressed as a sailor, could barely walk and didn't look a day over 21.

"Are you Meghan McCain?" he asked as he lurched drunkenly toward me.  [Talk about an obscure D.C. reference.]

His friend started dragging him away, but he kept yelling.  "Because you have big titties and they are all out!"

Number 1.) That is laughably incorrect, and
Number 2.) Sir, how did you arrive at that conclusion given that I am wearing a zipped-up parka?

Ha.  I think that says more about his impression of Meghan than it does about me.

The more people I saw as I waited for the bus, the more I started to worry about them.  Who could be an easier mugging target than a drunk guy wearing a cow costume?  What about the girl teetering on her heels while being supported by a guy who is asking, "OK, so where do you live?"  Oh you, hapless, hapless Halloween people.  God help you, as you make your way home at 3 a.m. in the cold while dressed as a Rubik's cube.

I walked briskly to my street after getting off at the bus stop.  A super hero-costumed guy weaving his way across the sidewalk stopped me as I was about to turn onto my street.

"Excuse me.  Which way is south?"

Cardinal directions are not my forte.  "Where are you trying to go I asked?  Dupont?" I said.

"South," he said.  "Just south."

Hope he made it!

Guest Post: New Year Sure Sure - Radio for an Iceland Road Trip

Happy Friday everyone! Julie, my super cool friend from San Francisco who traveled with me to Iceland, is taking over today. I thought she could write about the radio stations we listened in Iceland, mainly one that seemed to be called "New Year Sure Sure" but my Icelandic is a little spotty, so take that with a grain of salt. Here's Julie's rundown of Icelandic top 40 and beyond:

Greetings everyone, this is Julie, guest blogging on GGG this week. Adele graciously asked me to write about something “cool” in music and all I could really think of is Kreayshawn’s viral single “Gucci Gucci”. Clearly I should just stick with writing about Iceland.

Besides basking in the magic that is Iceland, we spent a good chunk of our time there driving around in our rental car. Like all our past road trips, we forgot to bring our own music and had to heavily rely on the radio. You can learn a lot about a place from its local radio stations and Iceland’s radio stations were like a breath of fresh hipster air with a hint of Norwegian Death Metal.

Bon Iver, Mumford and Sons, Adele were on heavy rotation, but not much of Katy Perry or Britney and strangely enough, not a single Bieber song on the radio! That makes me wonder where those Icelandic Bieberers get their fix and why is he everywhere but the radio, I just don’t get it!

Over the course of five days of driving, we switched from our favorite station that sounded like “New Year Sure Sure” to their top 40 station with lots of Lil Wayne and Rihanna. Every once awhile we would hear the latest single from Cake. Yes, you heard me, Cake and it has nothing to do with short skirts nor going for the distance. Cake, have no fear, Iceland has not forgotten you yet, while the world has since the 90s.

Another popular band was called Awolnation, which we had never heard of before Iceland. If AFI and Bassnectar had an emo angsy dubstep lovechild, it would be them. I’m assuming they were very popular there since their single came on like a broken record. Somewhere between being wet and cold from our horseback riding and getting lost on our way to the Blue Lagoon, I saw Adele’s angry fingers fumbling to switch stations when that song came on for the fifty-millionth time.

The radio highlight? Going apeshit for Bjork. What would Icelandic roadtrip be without Bjork?! Not gonna lie, it was epic when her songs came on the radio. Something about the combination of the desolated landscape in Snæfellsjökull and her music made us realized, “holy shit, we’re in muthafuckin’ Iceland, AHHHH!” It made me want to just pull over our VW and break out running with the sheep and smallish horses! But instead Adele just filmed us going gaga with her iPhone (a much safer alternative).

Who knows what would’ve happened if Sigur Rós came on, we might have made a beeline straight for the ocean. Too much Iceland to handle!

Editor's note: We never heard Sigur Rós on the radio, so that theory wasn't tested. Instead, they played a lot of Jessie J, who just doesn't inspire the same reaction. And here's that iPhone video with Bjork playing on the radio whilst driving in the Icelandic countryside.

Tunes Tuesday: "We Own The Sky," M83

I'm really excited to see French electro-pop group M83 on Friday at the Black Cat - thanks so much for the tickets, Linda!

Iceland Souvenirs

The customs officer asked me what I purchased in Iceland. "Stuffed animals and a bottle of vodka," I said.

He gave me a look and sent me on my way. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Except I forgot to mention the bow tie. Sorry, U.S. customs officials!

I bought this as a joke. I really wanted to get the Skipper's Pipe, but I couldn't find it at the airport shop on my way home. So I had to stick with Salty Fish. Sure enough, Salty Fish are salty - it's black licorice encrusted in salt, not sugar. Blech! Most people who've tried it have spit it out.

If you want to try it, I'll mail it to you. Seriously. First person who emails me gets dibs on the already opened box of salty licorice. Don't all volunteer at once.