Celebrity Fantasy League

Have you traded your favourite celebrity today?

(image credit: www.blackheritagecards.com)

So I was a big fan of HSE (Hollywood Stock Exchange) back in the day. Trading celebrities like the common commodity they are - what fun! Alas, apparently I do not have an inner Day Trader - it was alot of hard work staying on top of who was in what movie and what movie was suspected to bomb or bloom that weekend. Eventually I gave up. Stocks and me were not meant to mix.
But my foracious appetite for all things celebrity did not. And now I have discovered a new toy to feed that beast! I present to you fafarazzi.com
Introduced to me by the lovely E_sharp on the GP Nest board, Fafarazzi is a fantasy celebrity trading league ala the sports drafting leagues popularized by beer drinkers everywhere. Each player picks up to 10 celebrities and gains points if those celebrities are discussing in the gossip rags and blogs. The player with the most points at the end of the season reigns supreme as the ultimate Gossip Girl!
Each league moderator sets the season, so a group can start anytime. My first league will be starting next Wednesday. I am trying not to allow myself to pick the obvious ones - Brangelina, Speidi, LC. But dang its hard not to get sucked into their cotton candy fantasies! So wish me luck as I aim to climb the charts towards gossip dominance.

And if any of my readers are interested in forming a league, leave me a comment! If I get more then 5, I promise to set up a separate one just for us.

The gift that keeps on giving

The other night will xmas shopping with my hubby and BFF, my hubby let slip what he really wants for christmas. No, its not a:
oror even:
Its not even the full Battlestar Galactica collector's box set DVDs.

He wants....(drumroll please).....


That's right, all my husband wants for Christmas is his drawer full of underwear. Talk about ringing in the first year of our marriage and keeping the romance alive!

But not only does he want some underwear, he wants the gift that keeps on giving. He wants to be signed up for the "underwear of the month" club. His philosophy? Boys never want to buy such things for themselves, and wear them till their ratty and disgusting and you refuse to let them even share the dryer with your own delicate underthings. Having a new pair every month eliminates all that friction!

Ironically I had been considering a beer of the month club. But underwear? So I hit my friendly neighbourhood Google portal to see whats up. And lo and behold, there is such a thing! So, for the husband who already has everything, I present to you, Mensuas Underwear of the Month Club. For the low low price of $10 per month, your husband could be growing a new "pair" every month too. Don't forget to thank me next june :)

For when the travel bug bites

I shamelessly stole this from my friend Amanda, who is the guru for all things photographic and google. Thank you Amanda!

Many of you probably know the book, 1000 Places to See Before you Die: A Traveller's Life List. It is based on the travel series of the same name and has encouraged legions of fans the world over to cross places off their list.

Apparently Google Earth has published a map marking them all out as well. So if you have Google Earth downloaded, check it out now. And if you don't, why don't you? Its freakin' awesome. Use it to spy on your neighbours, or dream of lounging in the Seychelles on the Indian Ocean....


Le sigh, I need a winter vacation right about now. Anyone care to call in sick for me?

Rn Horror Stories

Sorry I have been MIA - yet again I was away on business. To kickstart re-posting I have to share this blog I came across today. It is absolutely hilarious. "Tales from Labour and Delivery" chronicles the life and times of a delivery nurse and her constant barrage of crazies at a pinnacle time in their life. Especially entertaining was the the whose your daddy story :).

What are some of your favourite non-friend blogs out there that keep you sane during the daily grind?

Find your personal DJ

Time to get Down with your Bad Self!

If you are like me and sit at your desk all day long, you often look for distraction and entertainment. I was very excited when a friend pointed me in the direction of Pandora. Pandora is a music compendium that takes your noted favourite artists, genres, styles, songs, even rifts and chords and creates a customized continuous playlist. You can make multiple playlists, and they can even suggest preformed playlists for special occasions, like holiday music. As the songs play, you can rate them, stating if you want more like that, or less, or blocking the song or artist altogether.

What is fascinating is that the creators behind Pandora have developed a computer system that actually reads the notes and beats of the song to match it in their database with like minded music. Its not just saying "you like rap, so here is more rap"; it actually tries to find music which evokes a similar theme, emotion and style to what it knows you already like. And as you rate things, it continues to evolve and hone its knowledge of you. They call this the Music Genome Project. Fascinating stuff!

Unfortunately, due to intellectual property rights law, Canadians are blocked from using the site. But all my american friends, get out and check it out today!

What's your secret?

Thursday confessions. My favourite day. On my favourite forum chat site The Knot/Nest, today is Thursday confessions on the boards I hang out on. We all bare our souls and announce what has been eating at us that week. Its refreshing, invigorating and its cleansing. But its still not completely anonymous. I know I have held back in Thursday confessions, partly because these people know my real name and my real life, and partly because in my stupidity, I made my log-in name my first name and I worry about people I know in real life googling me and finding me. But for all of us to scared to confess whats bothering us or baring our deepest secret, there is a virtual community that is completely anonymous: Post Secret.

I kind of assumed everyone is now aware of one of my absolute favourite web phenomenons. But just in case you haven't:

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

Frank at Post Secret started this project about 4 years ago. He now has 3 books out and blog site full of people's secrets. It is updated every Sunday with the best for the week. The image at the top of this post is my favourite from this week. My confession: I only clean my house if I know someone is coming over, so I tend to invite people to visit every 3-4 weeks. Otherwise my house becomes certifiable.

What I really love about this though is the spinoff activities it has spurned. With the release of his 3rd book, Frank encouraged people to leave Post Secrets in copies of the books in libraries and bookstores before purchasing their own. Some people reported up to 3 secrets in their copy, and one person even found a response to a secret left by someone else! Visit the Post Secret forum community for more stories of found secrets. In an increasingly digitized world its hard to feel that connectedness to the world around us. Post Secret helps that - reading these stories every week, there is at least one that says to me, "hey, I know how that feels". A virtual confessional where everyone gets to be the priest and offer forgiveness. Redemption is only a click away.

If you haven't checked it out, do so. And I thought as a fun experiment, I will allow anonymous comments on my blog for the next few days. Leave your own "post" secret for us - let it out and be free!

Monday night Recap

As briefly mentioned, I am a huge TV watcher. Growing up, my tv was on probably 8 or so hours a day. I did my homework in front of it, played games in front of it, slept in front of it. The only thing I wasn't allowed to do was eat in front of it. My parents did at least instill that in me. Which I have proceeded to ignore my entire adult life. Perhaps when I have kids it will change...
The big nights in our house this season are Monday and Thursday. Thank goodness we bought a spiffy PVR this year, or we would never make it through the season!
Sidetrack. Our new purchases this year. Aren't they pretty?:

We only have a few weeks left before the new shows run out due to the Writer's Guild of America strike (for a list of the major shows and how many new episodes are left, check this out - thaanks mrs.mauibride24). I honestly have no idea what I will do when that happens. Talk to my husband perhaps, god forbid.

Monday is Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth Day. This is our lineup:

Chuck
Heroes
Journeyman
How I met your Mother
plus occasionally, Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory

So let's talk Heroes. last night was fantastic!

Last season this show skyrocketed to the top of the demographics with the catchy phrase "save the cheerleader, save the world". Following a loose narration based on graphic novel chapters, the show follows a large ensemble cast as they grapple with unique super human abilities. Epic good vs. evil battles ensue, and human hubris always gets in the way. Strong story telling and interconnected plot lines and evil corporations ala Lost made it an unforgettable season. Get it on DVD now if you haven't seen it! You will fall in love with Hiro, I guarantee it.

This season has faltered a bit, as they tried to take more time to explain backstory and introduce a whole slew of new characters. The past few weeks it has finally started to get back on track and last night's episode was a doozy! finally the bad CG and green screen is gone and we are back for good ol' fashioned action.

***small spoilers ahead***

We learn more about Elle (who is still more then a little creepy as a young 20 something stalker)
tied up Noah Bennett's storyline (and left it open for more! I literally gasped at the final shot)
and get to see more of Hiro, which I always love.
Matt needs to watch how he uses his new powers - he could turn bad fast! The showdown between him and mrs. Petrelli was riveting. Sidebar: does anyone think Mrs. Petrelli has actual powers, or is she just an "administrative" matriarch? If you do, what do you think her powers are? Her performance last night made think of the Harry Potter universe and Secret Keepers. Perhaps she is a human memory bank of some sort?

I wonder what the final showdown will be between Hiro and Adam? How do you kill someone who is invincible? I personally think they have alluded to it in the past - projectile items, left in the wound and it can't close up. But that still doesn't mean they die.

So what are everyone's elses thoughts? loving it, hating it, meh? Any big theories out there for what is coming next? Leave me your comments!

Lastly, I will point you to the Heroes website where there many interesting toys to play with in the absence of original episodes. As digital and traditional medias collide, it is this sort of content that will help shape the future of entertainment. Help to create the next superhero (brilliant given the lack of available writers at the moment :) ), follow graphic novels and fan fiction.

And finally, a poll. Which hero would you most want to be? Let me know in your comments