Coffee shop review!

I'm new in town and I don't know very much, and so on my walk home from class today I stopped in at Jessee's. This place never looks crowded, but I walk/ride by it often and I was curious. I also didn't want to go to Open Eye (I am increasingly not really into Open Eye).

This place is really nice and clean and well lit with a breezy feel, and most notably of all it has a 99 sanitation grade. Which is crazy for Chapel Hill/Carrboro! (side note: can anyone tell me what the deal is with all the ~90 grades around here?? it's UNCANNY and sort of weirds me out how pretty much every restaurant has an identical grade) The point is that they "get it," and they're eager to please. The staff was really friendly, as part of that; they were also competent. My mushroom-and-garlic quiche was delivered with a little green salad, which was nice, and the coffee is real good too.

I like this place and I want it to succeed, so I'll give it a 9.0!

Movies in prison 2

The other day I published the list of ladies to watch on screen while languishing in prison for a life sentence. It was a crime I didn't commit. The warden likes me; he asked for a list of 5 women in film. He got all their movies. Today the warden is going for the men. If you know me, you know who'll win. If you don't know me, you'll be glad of that. Here's the list:

Most likely to make this list someday: Johnny Depp. Except for the second Pirates movie, I have never seen a Depp movie I didn’t enjoy. That includes most of his oeuvre. His weirdness appeals to me, another weird guy. How does he not have an Oscar?

#5: James Stewart

Everybody loves Jimmy Stewart. He’s the nice uncle you wish you had. Or Grandpa. He’s got roles in at least 3 “Greatest ______ Movie of All Time.” He’s one of the most-impersonated actors ever. If Frank Capra and Alfred Hitchcock love you, you’re a great actor and you will appear in great movies. He's the most likely to calm that prison riot raging outside your cell.

#4: Tom Hanks

Saving Private Ryan and Toy Story are terrific. I’ve seen Apollo 13 more times than any other movie. But Tom gets credit for his ability to make me chuckle, like he did in Big, The ‘burbs, and The Money Pit. Plus, he loves space. I hope he appears in more space flicks in the future. If I want to imagine myself as far away from my hellish prison life as possible, I can't go further than space.

#3: Michael Caine

I was surprised too when he ended up here. But he knows how to entertain with movies like A Bridge Too Far, Alfie, and The Man Who Would Be King. I’ll level with you. He makes the list for The Dark Knight. Batman, will you spring me from this nightmare?

#2: Sean Connery

There was never any doubt about him. I’ll watch anything he’s in. Like the third Indiana Jones, Highlander and The Rock. He’s always cool on screen, and that voice, I love it. And wasn’t there some fellow named Bond? Speaking of voices, number 1 is…

#1: Arnold Schwarzenegger

I said you didn’t want to know. Arnie will replace Stewart as the most-impersonated actor ever. Well, “actor.” Would you call his performance in Twins and Kindergarten Cop acting? I love his ability to defeat machines, aliens and even Satan. As if a puny human could pose a threat. I watch everything he’s in. I wish he wasn’t off trying to save the real world.

*~*~*~* CRUSH @lert *~*~*~*

Too many crushes lately!! This one couldn't go undocumented when I found out that Neil Patrick Harris is going to be a guest judge on American Idol next year! As if I didn't love him enough already!! Confession: I watch How I Met Your Mother and I like it. It can be a little cheesy at times, but overall the show is fun to watch. More fun than Friends' reruns or any other sitcom on these days. The gimmick about who the mother will be keeps me interested, but it's Neil Patrick Harris' character of Barney that keeps me tuning in.

Pic via

He hosted the Tony Awards this year, which I didn't see but heard was hilarious. I'll bet! So I'm excited to see him host the Emmys. You need a good host at these things or else they really do feel like 4 hours. I don't want to brag, but Neil Patrick and I are practically related. We sat in the same room together. Yes, it's true! Senior year of college I was in New York and my friends and I were having brunch and in walked Neil Patrick Harris. HE SAT NEXT TO US. AND ORDERED A STRAWBERRY WAFFLE. I was caddy corner to his seat so I was trying not to make eye contact, but that's almost impossible. Especially since he was with what looked like his boyfriend at the time and he hadn't come out yet. Also, since it was 2006 I'm not sure if How I Met Your Mother was on, but I hadn't seen the show yet. I'll remember that brunch 4eva.

ps - Barney's blog.

Video from CBS. No copyright infringement intended.

Can't sleep

and have been posting like a banshee on the ol' personal Tumblr (I have principles and can't link it, but I did add comments so...!); how do most people fall asleep by the end of the day?? I've been getting exhausted by 6ish, then I drink a bunch of coffee or, if I'm real desperate, red bull, and then I'm up for-e-ver. The past two nights this tired-ness has involved driving, so I didn't want to risk "toughing it out" and falling asleep on I-40 between Chapel Hill and Raleigh.

Anyway! We're having a pool party at my and Kneeker's house this Sunday, August 30, and if you're our friend, we want you to come. Bring whatever you want!! I'm not sure what time it'll be, but I'm open to the morning/afternoon/evening, especially if we're trying to get some last-minute tans. Make sure you vote in the poll AND rsvp to us somehow otherwise, like give us a call.

Also, is anyone else thinking it's time for a fresh blingee??? The recent commemorative blingee (for Jake and Grey's departure, which is really sad) on Hi Fever has inspired me...as has my recent acquisition of a scanner and some old pictures from way back. I'm definitely thinking of some blingees in the near future at JOP!!

Movies in prison

As you know, there are few things I love more than a movie list. This time, I’m talking actors (and actresses, but I’m using the term for both). The premise: I’m in jail and only allowed to watch the movies of 5 different actors. Whom do I choose?

I wanted a list of talented and varied people. These are not lists of my 5 favorite or best actors, but 5 actors whose films could entertain me the longest.

First the women. Let’s go:

Most likely to make this list someday: Kate Winslet. She has several Oscar nods, a range of films, and a beautiful body. She’ll act for another 30 years.

#5: Marilyn Monroe

She is the most iconic actress who ever lived. I’ve seen just a couple of her films, but I think I could stand more (wink). She was the master of the innocent sex-bomb. Has anyone pulled that off before or since half as well? She’s not the greatest actress, but in everything she did she was hot. That’s enough to fuel my interest and erase my memories of my prison cellmate.

#4: Katherine Hepburn

She won four acting Oscars, more than any other woman or man. Her voice is as iconic as Marilyn’s body. People love her because she commands attention on screen. Whether she was paired with Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Jimmy Stewart or Humphrey Bogart, Hepburn held her own. Her career lasted so long; it means I’ll have plenty of films to plough through during those boring years after I’ve read everything in the library—twice.

#3: Julianne Moore

One of two working actresses on this list. She’s mostly there for her turn in The Big Lebowski. I’d watch it every day and not tire of it. She acts in comedies, thrillers and powerful dramas. I can choose funny or serious, depending on whether or not I won that cafeteria fight that day.

#2: Bette Davis

With more than 100 IMDb film credits I could spend months watching all her flicks the first time. With movies like All About Eve and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? I could come back for more. Her personal life fascinates as well. When she learned her brother-in-law was a recovering alcoholic, she sent him dozens of liquor cases as a wedding gift. A personality that deranged is bound to seep through on screen. I would take tips from her about how to psychologically destroy the cell-block guards.

#1: Faye Dunaway

Eighty movies and counting. Faye looks like one of my grandmothers. An interesting side-note for the woman who starred in Chinatown and Network, two of the best-scripted films ever made. I love Network; it’s a comedy of the blackest kind. Her best movies are pure joys, enough to black out the nightmares of the prison shower.

5 Pic Friday

Coconut Crab

(thanks Joe)

Brody from G105 (on the right)

I've always wondered what he looked like. Mystery Solved.

The Love Language

Good band or trendy, hipster Carrboro band? Discuss.

Obama's visit to Raleigh a few weeks ago at Broughton High School
*3 editors of JoP graduated in this famed gym!

(Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Miss Piggy working with Marc Jacobs

Happy 200th Post JoP!

I'm Yours?

Jason Mraz. Remember when he was unleashed on an unsuspecting nation? Yeah, me neither. But I stumbled across this fact today: His new song "I'm Yours" has now been the longest running song on Billboard's Hot 100 chart EVER. The article is pretty funny and the first commenter too. It reminded me of other "hits" that have stayed around and punished us forever - I remember "Foolish Games" (Jewel) and "How Do I Live" (LeAnn Rhimes) as being particularly ear crushing.

Big announcement/hint/surprise!

Number one: I started a personal tumblr for more personal stuff, so probably my JOP posting might change or something. But this is the first/last/only time I'll mention my other, TOP SECRET, blog here, so make a note or forget about it forever.

Number two: JoP may be moving soon. Stay tuned!

* * * * CrUsH aLeRt * * * *

I guess people are still debating health care?? JK. They are. Lucky for us that means more articles about Rahm Emanuel. Obama's Chief of Staff has it all - good looks, a famous family (brother Ari Emanuel- the inspiration behind Ari Gold on Entourage), an artistic side (won a ballet scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet, attended Sarah Lawrence), and a "fiery" personality (rumor has it that he mailed a rotten fish to a former coworker after the two parted ways).

In response to the lack of a bipartisan approach the Democrats are considering a new strategy - relying on their numbers to get the final bill passed. Rahm said, "The Republican leadership has made a strategic decision that defeating President Obama's health care proposal is more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that American face every day." It does seem that way when you see the town hall meetings and the craziness/crazies that surround Congressmen at open forums. With all of the specials and articles on the Obama administration, they paint the picture that Rahm is the real go-to guy to get legislation passed. Hott.

Remixes 2.0

I like this picture of Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson. I'm not a big fan of either, esp SJ. She looks good here with the red hair though. This was the picture for an article about how Scarlett is playing the Brigitte Bardot to Yorn's Serge Gainsbourg. If her previous cd is any indication then we should all be a little bit scared.

5 pic Friday

Hoss Wranglers-now ya know.

young Billy

Wrong.

He's back!

Badlands, SD

Kill Your Cable!

My roommate and I cancelled our cable this summer. It was a great decision. Summer sports are lame, as are summer shows. We save 50 bucks a month, yet I sacrificed my chance to catch up on Spencer and Heidi shenanigans. Bummer!

We still have the Internet. And we have Hulu, magical Hulu. We get every TV show we could want, for free. You can do it too. Call Time Warner and tell them to end their tyranny! Tell 'em to go to hell!

5 Pic Friday

Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Whitney looks crazy - crazy good!

New Mad Men soon! (btw - How cool is that headboard?)

Out of Africa

Despite its title, the white people in Out of Africa are not desperately fleeing the continent. They love it. They stay there a while. Some of them leave and even come back. "This is not the war-torn continent I imagined Africa always is and will be," you say. You're right, because it's set in the 1910s, before European "civilization" wrought havoc on hundreds of millions of people.

Karen Blixen, played by Meryl Streep (about the only person who didn't win an Oscar for this movie), leaves Denmark to live in British Kenya with her new husband, Baron Blixen. If you love crusty British aristocracy, this picture is for you! Despite the urbane Brits running around oppressing natives, Blixen loves Africa. "I had a farm, in Africa," she narrates constantly. She runs the coffee farm, mostly by herself. And wouldn't you know it, she runs into people who don't think a woman can run a farm.

Luckily for Karen, the Brits are too busy destroying the lives of the locals to care about keeping down Europeans. The time period probably represents the last time Africa was Africa, with tribes and proto-kings running around and without all those messy things like borders and nation-states, and the rape of natural resources and...whew, this wears me out. Most of this stuff takes place off-screen, sparingly rearing its head in the narrative.

Blixen asks a bureaucrat for some money to help repair the damage to her farm. He scoffs when he learns that she isn't using all her land for crops, instead keeping a local tribe on its ancestral lands. "Why don't you move them off?" he asks. "Because they live there," she says. Silly Danes, never disrupting thousands of years of local traditions to more productively export goods.

But save the social discussions for after the credits roll. Get lost in Africa. It's easy. If you enjoyed Planet Earth and its sweeping shots of the African landscape, get ready to be nostalgic. This movie's full of 'em. If you enjoy getting lost in Robert Redford's eyes and cool reassurance about the world, you'll love it. I did. It pleased me so much that I didn't even loathe Meryl Streep. From me, that's a compliment.

Super Confused Today Because

How are we supposed to choose from that crazy list of movies???? I have to be honest with you all: as much as I like and respect Stanley Kubrick and Frederico Fellini and Jean-Luc Goddard and Francois Truffaut and blah blah blah, I enjoy John Hughes' movies more than just about anybody else's.

Let's take a look at this astounding list of hits:

1) Uncle Buck. the niece dated a guy named "Bug"?? so hilarious! my dad used to drive a crappy Buick like John Candy's in the movie, and he was a protective dad so he'd always joke about embarrassing me in front of boys by acting like Uncle Buck.

2) Pretty in Pink. watched this just last week! is James Spader very fine in this movie??? is he very confident in a white suit in a high school? is Ducky even adequately charming, despite being a little bit creepy?! yes, yes, YES. but...is her prom dress beautiful and worth all the tension-building leading up to her entrance? not really.

3) Christmas Vacation. got my vote. the way Julia Louis-Dreyfuss says "Todd" cracks me up every time.

4) Mr. Mom. Michael Keaton really sells this role! Think of anybody else playing Mr. Mom: Richard Gere? Pauly Shore? Tom Cruise? Marc Summers????

5) Sixteen Candles. Jake, Jake, Jake. no offense to Mr. Ahhh "The Arctic Cat," but Jake is a very unconvincing love interest for Molly Ringwald here. But does it matter? you've got both Cusacks, you've got a bitchy sister on muscle relaxants, you've got drunk popular girls making very bad decisions, you've got a piece-of-trash "bohunk," you've got a notebook that says "the rave-up." you've got asian stereotypes and Lilith from Cheers!!!

6) Home Alone. we all know this one, nothing new to say. so many of the lines from this movie are burned into my permanent vocabulary: Kevin's "woof," looking at his brother's girlfriend's picture; "look what you did, you little jerk!", "ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

7) Planes, Trains, & Automobiles. no opinion; I think if I saw it at all, it'd have been when my parents rented it and I was too young to get it or enjoy it. don't vote on this one.

Super Happy Today Because

1) it's the last Friday of work!

2) internship interview next week!

3) new computer arrived this morning!!!!!!!!!!!

Discussion: What Was In Your Discman?

Last week, I was thinking about my state of mind in '99, specifically: What was I thinking, buying the LFO "Summer Girls" CD single? What was I thinking, buying any CD? I know I was thinking about trying to be cool, but I was also thinking about "relating" to a singer and feeling related-to. Meaning: I was a huge giant fan of Ani DiFranco, Tori Amos, and Fiona Apple. That part of my 14-year-old self makes sense to me now.

But what could explain this funny little mixtape I found while unpacking?

Side 1:

1. NOFX: Olive Me (Fat Wreck Chords compilation opened a lot of doors for me)
2. Beck: Hotwax
3. Beastie Boys: Intergalactic
4. Lipps, Inc.: Funkytown
5. The Cardigans: Lovefool
6. Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh: Dúlamán (got a pretty sweet Celtic compilation)
7. Dave Matthews Band: One Sweet World
8. Ben Folds Five: Don't Change Your Plans
9. Smashing Pumpkins: Thirty-Three
10. Jars of Clay: Tea and Sympathy
11. Led Zeppelin: Battle of Evermore
12. Ani DiFranco: Gravel
13. Fiona Apple: Never is a Promise (made myself sad there toward the end)


Side 2:

1. Tahiti 80: Mr. Davies (put a high premium on things I didn't think anybody else had heard of)
2. Me First & The Gimme Gimmes: Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard (I was cool, so I wrote this like MAJDBTS for short. also, again with the Fat Wreck Chords compilation/striving for "obscurity")
3. Tom Petty: Crawling Back to You
4. James Taylor: Fire and Rain
5. Radiohead: Thinking About You (clearly ruminating on some imagined heartache at this point)
6. Simon and Garfunkel: Cecilia
7. Barenaked Ladies: Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank
8. Weezer: Tired of Sex (my edgy side)
9. The The: This is the Day (was i into Empire Records very much???)
10. Poe: Fingertips
11. Moby: Porcelain (#'s 10 and 11 both clearly influenced by the Saint Mary's modern dance ensemble)
12. Goldfinger: Mabel
13. They Might Be Giants: Istanbul
14. Steve Miller Band: Jungle Love
15. Tori Amos: Yes, Anastasia (saving the best for last)

So what about you? Don't pretend like you never went through a fratty-jam-band phase, especially if you grew up in Raleigh--I can think of only five people who can truthfully claim they were never tempted by DMB. What was your big jam: was it Destiny's Child? Usher? Cherry Poppin' Daddies?????

Better Get Some Fancy Sunglasses

...because the future of this blog is so bright you're gonna need SPF 500! Not only because of all the talent we have on board, but because I'm getting a new computer this week. I can't wait! True, "grad school and library science and learning code and stuff" really means "I need an excuse to buy something maybe fancier than what I need," but trust me: this new computer will be awesome for all of us. Combined with all the astounding features and capabilities of my new laptop, the sheer knowledge of computers ('n' shit) I'll be picking up in library science will translate to an incredible multimedia extravaganza here on Jar of Paperclips.

Email us with your ideas at jarofpaperclips@gmail.com. Or chat us up! We spend a lot of time on gchat.