The Muppets : Stand By Me

I love the Muppet Studio!

Small minds...!

My bf has been laughing about this all day.

Comedians to watch: KevJumba! (I LOVE THIS KID!)

He's not really a kid... :P He is, however, hilarious. (I subscribe to a lot of vloggers. He's one of my favourite!)

KevJumba on stupid lyrics... (I was listening to a mashup yesterday thinking just how stupid that Ass & Titties song was... And yes, for those who don't know, that is the title.)

Comedians to watch: Chelsea Handler

"I've woken up next to a billy-goat..."

My appreciation for comediennes is about on par with my appreciation for (most) female singer/songwriters.  That is to say, it's pretty non-existent.  According to the s/o, women who attempt standup are typically not funny (and this is also his explanation as to why the "funny woman" will never sell as a plot gimmick relative to her male counterparts). While I'm not entirely sure that I agree with him,  the fact of the matter is, funny women are often few and far between, in my opinion.With some rare exceptions (we share a soft spot for the brilliance that is Tina Fey),  apparently women just don't know how to make a story funny.

Of course, humour is a subjective thing.

Enter: Chelsea Handler.

I first came across Handler a few weeks back while browsing the Comedy Network/Comedy Central website. Given her popularity I'm kind of surprised I'd never heard of her. Add to the fact that she's got the mouth of a sailor and a sense of humour to make any man proud and well, I'm surprised she stayed under my radar for as long as she has.  Of course, this leads me to wonder whether funny women have to be funny on male terms to be regarded as funny at all. (Tangentially, this links to a conversation I had earlier in the week on academic voice and the need for academics, in particular female academics to "perform" their roles based on masculine identifiers, utilizing masculinist language. But that's another entry...)

It doesn't surprise me to find that I love Ms. Handler as much as I do. A perpetually single (and willingly so!), tragically flawed heroine in her own right (I love the fact that she admits her love for the bottle supersedes her desire for domesticity), she criticizes women for the seemingly stupid shit things they consider to be a "big deal" in life. She doesn't buy into the whole 2.4 children, white picket fence ideal, either (which, although most female comics don't necessarily uphold, seems to be pivotal to most women being able to appreciate comedy). In truth, I think I'm just a little bit in love.

Mind you... my appreciation might be a bit biased, especially since I really believe single people should get thrown showers because they've not decided to (or decided not to) take the plunge.

Cinema Secrets: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (The Making Of)

If you've been paying any attention to me via email, MSN, Facebook etc. in the last little while, you'll know how obsessed I am with this Old Spice commercial that launched during the Super Bowl. While "The Making Of" shares its secrets, it in no way takes away from the brilliance of the final product. The two writers are absolute gold...and the casting of Isaiah Mustafa was perfect. He could be my Sven! Especially if he's packing two tickets to that thing I love.

FYI, my man smells like a man. ;)

Comedians to watch: Owen Benjamin

I happened to see Benjamin on The Comedy Network last night as they aired an episode with him on Comedy Central. His style is [relatively] unique in that he blends music with comedy all the while spouting witty observations on life. In an effort to get a closer look at his work (having never heard of him), I headed over to YouTube and found this little gem. Totally worth a second look!

"Sven"

After breakfast today (and by breakfast I mean a pretty late lunch during which we ate "breakfast foods") my bf announced, "I really hope you find the man you're looking for".  The comment, which came seemingly from out of nowhere, made me turn to him and ask, "What makes you so sure you aren't that man?"

He laughed.

"Because," he said, with patience, "I've listened to you describe for years the kind of man you want and I know I'm not him. Besides, I just want you to be happy."

Now, I feel the need to explain a few things to the readers who don't know me. I'm twenty-seven years old. My bf is six years my senior and we've been together just short of a decade. In that time he's seen me graduate from high school and complete two subsequent university degrees. He's now putting up with my quest for a third (and let's face it, the man deserves a medal for that alone).  In the same amount of time, I've seen him change as well. He's changed careers, he's changed roommates, he's changed living situations.  From time to time he's changed the bedsheets and his clothes. (I do him a disservice; the man loves doing laundry.) Still, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel I'd changed more than him.

Why?

Put simply, because I was a teenager when we met and I had a lot of formative years still ahead of me.   By contrast, he'd been out in the world for a while, dating, living and holding down a real job. Suffice it to say, whatever I thought I wanted or needed at eighteen has been overhauled (and then some) over the past decade.

Now, if we unpack his comment a bit it sounds like a breakup is inevitable, if not immediate, so I'm sure you're all probably asking, "What the heck are you two doing?" (Some of you might also be asking why we aren't married and let me assure you we - not the "royal we" but we as in both of us - have a range of reasons, explanations, theories and excuses in response to that question. But go ahead and ask. :p)

The fact is, our relationship isn't broken. We get along, we have a good time, we fight like there's no tomorrow and we make up in much the same way. I can safely say that my bf is my best friend and he's said that about me, too. It's about as normal as a relationship can be, when you get right down to it.  Having said that, we're both pretty good at facing reality and we don't delude ourselves into thinking that everyone has to believe we're in love 100% of the time.  Moreover, there's a certain freedom that comes with having been together for as long as we have and that includes being honest about our partner's misgivings.

With all of that in mind, my bf said today that he was hoping "Sven" was just around the corner.  Sven, he figures is a pretty sexy name for my as of yet fictitious partner-to-be, and he coupled this with a hideous Swedish/Scandinavian accent simply to drive home the point. (Don't ask me where he comes up with this crap. As far as I know, he doesn't do drugs.) Sven would be, of course, all the things my bf (supposedly) is not, including driven, ambitious, "egregiously wealthy", blonde with a six pack of abs (not beer), a surfboard in one hand and a puppy's leash in the other.  Somewhere along the way I think Sven became Australian....but my bf can't do that accent at all.

"Maybe he'll show up at one of your conferences," the bf says. Of course, I have to laugh at this. Apparently my bf has not attended (m)any academic conferences. I have yet to see a six pack on anybody. That would be a fantasy straight out of one of my Harlequins. But I won't hold my breath.

I'm not sure whether it's good for my bf to be thinking he isn't the man of my dreams. Being a realist is one thing, being a pessimist is another and I'd hate to think we were dragging out the inevitable.  Besides, I'm pretty sure Sven, for all of his Armani couture and fluency in four languages, can't make the best mashed potatoes ever, wouldn't encourage the stuffed animals in my condo to go on nighttime missions and probably wouldn't find me pretending to be a robot cute/sexy/funny. He probably wouldn't challenge me to beat him at video games and probably wouldn't be all that interested in stomping through puddles at the park looking at random dogs.

Just sayin'.



P.S. That first guy couldn't be any less of a "Sven", now could he?!

Photo credit: Toomas

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

Just. Plain. Awesome.

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

I don't know who's running the show over at Old Spice, but whoever you are, I salute you!

Go watch the entire series of commercials. They won't disappoint!