It's Official

I should vote for my fellow statesman, the big Obama, on Super Tuesday! Still not sure who YOU should vote for? Go to electoralcompass.com to figure out who you agree with the most...and who you are furthest from in political beliefs and stances. It takes about two minutes to answer the questions. I'm so happy my beliefs are aligned with the dude I'm gonna vote for anyway!

New Kids on the Block are BACK!

They still got the right stuff. You know they're hangin' tough. And, you might be able to remember when, but soon you won't have to rely on your memories for much longer. You might be sayin', "Stop playin' those games, BingBongBoom! Don't toy with our emotions that way!" But this is NOT a game. NKOTB is back! That's right, folks: following in the steps of British supergroups Take That and the Spice Girls, the group that brought boybands back to the forefront of American pop culture in the late 80's is planning a reunion. And who's too excited? THIS GUY!!!

Jordan, Joey, and Danny were never in doubt for a reunion, but two others always led us diehard fans to wonder if this would ever happen. But, we don't need to wonder anymore: Donnie's taken time off from his acting career to join in. And, most importantly: Jonathan will be there, too!

I'm totally going. I can't wait. I'll dust off my New Kids shirt from my childhood dresser, so I better keep to that diet, so I can fit that Youth Large. :) OK, I gotta go break out my old cassette tapes!

Check out these sites for more funktastic New Kids news:

The breaking news story on People.com

The official NKOTB site, which will soon be dormant no longer

Case Closed

I still don't know what to say about the passing of Heath Ledger. I suppose all I can say is that he was becoming one of the leading actors of my generation (MY generation because we were the exact same age). It's strange to think there will never be another Ledger film; it's stranger to think he was my age. On a whole, I enjoyed his films so much. He, like fellow Batman star Christian Bale, revelled in choosing the roles that detracted from his natural handsomeness (yes, that's a word, cause I say it is)--roles in films like Lords of Dogtown and Dark Knight. I am still looking forward to seeing his Dylan interpretation in I'm Not There and his Joker in Dark Knight. Without a doubt, though, I'll leave the cinema after viewing those two films with the question "What might have been?" at the forefront of my mind.

And, on a much more personal note, the passing of Mr. Ledger took a far backseat to the news the following morning that a former student of mine took her own life. That news hit home hard and fast and made me feel silly for being sad about a man I had never even met. A young, vivacious, wide grinning girl of 15 has left our world, and I pray that I might see her again one day on the other side. Take care of each other, tell your loved ones how important they are to you, and don't ever forget how precious this life is. Please, take a moment to call someone right now and tell them how much you love them. If you're reading this, it's my turn to tell you, because only the ones I care for the most read this:

I love you.

SAY IT AIN'T SO

Sweet Baby Heath...what do I say?????????????
BingBongBoom! will try to pay our respects at a later date and time when we can better articulate our feelings.

Even Better than the Time You Ate Your Weight in Godfather's Pizza

Friday night saw me partaking in a double bill at the Savoy 16, and Sunday saw me back for one more! It was a movie weekend fo' sho', with two out of the three being wonderful.

JUNO--loved it, loved it, loved it! I know it took me too long to see it, but the important thing is I finally got to. Boy, do I ever covet Juno's cheeseburger phone and extraEXTRA large sunglasses. It was great to see Bateman pushing the envelope and being a total D-bag. And then there's Cera: Oh, Michael Cera, what a sweet, angelic singing voice you have.

CLOVERFIELD--hated it, hated it, HATED IT. I refuse to give it any more words, time, or energy. (One thing's for sure, though: After seeing it, I'm sorry I vowed not to swear on this blog.)

SWEENEY TODD--deeeeeeeeeeeeee-licious meat pies and songs all round. Oh, please, do go see it! (Except for Cori, because the Sleepy Hollow blood's back, sister, and you'll be ill.) After this, no one should be in doubt: Depp is definitely the best actor of our generation. There was also a short, yet sweet, Buffy alumni cameo. One thing I didn't like: seeing Sacha Baron Cohen's package through his ultra tight, shiny blue Colleen Atwood designed pants. *shiver!*

It's definitely a better time for me than eating my weight in Godfather's pizza, but I would have to ask Chunk if he'd agree.

A Thank You Note

Dear WGN,

Thank you so much for keeping Even Stevens alive. I love to wake up on Saturday and Sunday mornings to a healthy dose of Ren and Louis antics. The early comedic genius of Shia LaBeouf is evident and so much fun to watch. He's bloomed into quite a bright, shining Hollywood star (can't wait for Indy, yo). Twitty, Tawny, Beans, the whole gang is still too much fun to watch.

I'm so appreciative of you, WGN. BingBongBoom! salutes you!!! I only hope you keep the Stevens family alive for years to come, because Disney never puts their awesome shows on DVD. :(

Play Game-Save Lives

What up, friendly readers? If you're sitting at home or at work reading this, you must be hard up for something to do. Well, now try this:

freerice.org

Sponsored by the United Nations, this website is making a point to stamp out world hunger, and my middle school is trying to help, too. Until February 14, our kids and staff are playing Free Rice's vocabulary game. Every vocab word they get right, 20 grains of rice is donated to a starving family. Our goal is to get 20 million grains by February 14, and this will feed a family of four for one year.

The great part is YOU can help, too! If you participate, keep track of your numbers and send them my way. You can email them to me or post them as a comment. Like the kids, you'll have FUN learning new vocabulary and you'll help a family out. And, YES, they actually do consider this FUN!

No Golden Globes for Us

If you know me, you knew I would complain about this, especially since the Globes are my favorite awards show of the season. Due to the writers' strike, there was no Golden Globes telecast tonight. I mean, how could an awards show function without patter? Not very well I guess. Instead, those unlucky enough to tune in (um, that was me) got to watch the dream team of Nancy O'Dell and Billy I'm-a-Tool Bush present the major awards. They still managed to pad this with their signature pedantic banter, discussing various topics from oh my gosh I can't believe Juno didn't win anything to La Vie en Rose not really fitting into any category to (my personal favorite) the generosity of the foreign press spreading out the best actor in a TV comedy award (apparently that dashing guy in Pushing Daisies will get it eventually). They about did my head in.

For Mr. Depp, lucky #7 it was: he finally got his for "Sweeney Todd" (which I still have seen-BLAST it). And, I'm so sad I didn't get to see Ed Ved's acceptance speech for "Guaranteed." Oh, wait, he wouldn't have shown up anyway.

Robbie On Strike

The BBC reports that Robbie will be on strike until further notice. He's not up for releasing a new album since his EMI label has been taken over by another company. Dagnabit! I want new Robbie. "Rudebox" was so good. I will defend that album until my final day; it was genius.

New Year's Watchin'

I love DVD's. I love TV. I love snuggling in my room watching both. I think I could be a happy girl snugged up in my bed with our little TV and all region DVD player for many days. Here's a small sampling of what I've been watching so far in 2008:

1. Big Love, Season 2: Oh, Bill Henrickson, you got a lotta people gunnin' for you in this second season. And the show continues to enthrall me. Ah, the life of the modern polygamist...(and that Ginnifer Goodwin is so frickin' cute!) Nicki is now nothin' compared to Rhonda. I'm so glad I've blocked myself from using profanity on this blog, because I have some choice words to say about her.
2. Long Way Down: Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman head all the way down to Cape Town, South Africa, leaving from the tip of northern Scotland. So far, it's a bit more depressing than the original Long Way Round, but I still love watching them go through the highways and biways of the continent of Africa. Egypt was especially breathtaking.
3. Doctor Who, Series 3: Of course I had to finish it in the New Year. It was still as awesome as the first time I saw it. The last three episodes are UH-MAZING.
4. Superbad: Just fantastic, and I still snort throughout.
5. The Illini: I won't give up. I'll keep watching. 0-4 in the Big Ten...how the mighty have fallen.
6. Ugly Betty: Thanks to Net Flix, I finally get to start this tomorrow on the elliptical! I'm sooooooo excited!!!

Starting Tomorrow

Don't forget to watch "Jamie at Home" on Food Network tomorrow! There was a sneak peek last Sunday on FN, and I thought it was simply delightful! His recipes look simple and delicious so far. (I can't say the same for the accompanying book I saw in Scotland this Christmas. Those seemed a bit more complicated.) I am just so stoked he's back on FN! It will be on at 9:30/8:30 a.m., so if you can't get up set those TiVo's/DVR's. I might just record all of them and watch them late at night, like I used to. It just makes sense to me to watch Mr. Oliver after 10 p.m.; blame Pages for all the late night shifts in 2000-2001.

An I-Just-Saw-It-and-Must-Talk-About-It Post

Don't be haters, yo. I just saw this on the film on the way home and can't get it out of my head. I want you to cease being a hater, because even though it came out in November, I just saw it and am just alking about it now. I usually hate it when people jump on the bandwagon late like that, but I didn't catch it during it's 13 day stint at the local cinemaplex.


What is "it?" Well, "it" is "Across the Universe." It was absolutely wonderfulphenomenal deliciousengagingbeautiful. If you still haven't heard of it, click the link above. If you've hesitated to see it because of Evan Rachel Wood (which I've learned could be the case with many), you should give it a shot anyway. It was simply exquisite. A film about the '60's outlined by Beatles classics--ingenious! At first I didn't know how I felt about all the Beatles covers, but in the end it was a glorious film accomplish. Julie Taymor outdid herself, and I enjoyed every Beatle-filled minute. The male lead, Jim Sturgess, is already a new film favorite. He was completely engaging to watch. The best part: all the kids could hold a tune! No lip synching here a la Natalie Wood here! And one more unique tidbit: the main characters are named by Beatles' songs (Jude, Lucy, Prudence, Jo-Jo, etc).

PLEASE, give it a shot, especially if you're a Beatles fan. I don't think you'll be disappointed with the new song interpretations. The film also reinforces the overwhelming, staggering changes in the Beatles' sound in 7 short years.

Back in the USA

I can't believe I went to work on Friday! I was so out of it (after only 6 hours of sleep), that I didn't even do the right lesson plan. Now my upcoming week is all screwy, and I barely know which end is up! Buuuuuuuut, we had a lovely second Christmas yesterday! This was great, but now it means Christmas is truly over. :( It's really depressing watching our DVR recordings and seeing holiday commercials. I want Christmas baaaaaaaack!

I hope you're all having a lovely New Year, and I hope you all have lots of fun stuff to look forward to. I know I do...

Who's the REAL Doctor?

Happy New Year, all!!! And what a better way to ring it in than with the Doctor...or should I say DoctorS? This was ace, so enjoy!