MASCULINE MONDAY: Neil Patrick Harris

I feel like this MM should have happened a long time ago. But now that I'm doing it, I'm doing it right, with an extremely excessive amount of videos.

The thing about Neil Patrick Harris is this: there's just so much to love about him! He is comedically wonderful. He sings beautifully. He's gay and out and completely normal about it. AND he takes on great roles, and does them so well that it's just... I mean... he... I love him.

About two and a half months ago I started watching How I Met Your Mother (I'd seen a couple episodes but really dedicated myself to it in April). Since then, I've finished all five seasons. A lot of this was driven by my love for NPH. The thing about him that I love most on this show is something that I think is very WRONGLY ignored: his knack for physical comedy. Everyone's always focused on him being gay but playing this womanizing (hilarious) asshole, and while he does this very well what I think he's really great at is using his body, his face, his entire persona to react to situations. For instance (and it took me FOREVER to find a clip that wasn't just him saying "LEGENDARY" over and over again. Come on guys, it's funny on the show, but who wants to watch 3 solid minutes of that?), here is a clip of him as Barney Stinson eating Chinese food:



Please, if you don't watch the show, I am begging you out of selfishness because I want it to be on the air forever: watch it. Watch it now. And, because he's not the only funny guy on the show and I want to give some credit to my second favorite character, here he is with his castmate Jason Segel (Marshall) being AWESOME. And singing. Les Mis. (This one goes out to my sister):



But the real reason he's my Masculine Monday today is because of this gem of the internet that I just saw for the first time on Friday and have since watched three more times: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. It is a gorgeous glorious musical masterpiece (written/directed by Joss Whedon, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame and beloved by me) that Joss and friends did during the writers' strike a few years back (LET'S NOT TALK ABOUT THAT). Joss has previous musical experience only with the Buffy musical episode (great TV), and in my opinion he did a tremendous job. And of course NPH was the gem-surrounded-diamond-encrusted-platinum-lined tragicomic hero, Dr. Horrible. Basically, the story is that Dr. Horrible (Billy) is an evil scientist who is trying to break his way into being a true Super Villain and at the same time muster up the courage to talk to the pretty girl at the laundromat, Penny, all while facing constant irritation by his arch-nemesis, Captain Hammer. And it's a musical. I now give you the gift of the first seven and a half minutes of this masterpiece.



Oh, and here's another song, just because I like it:



Other reasons to include in my list of "Why You Should Love Neil Patrick Harris" are shown in video form below.

1. He's totally cool with his sexuality, and he thinks other people should be as well, but he balances it by not being a crusader and not wanting to push people to do things they don't want to do. I love this attitude. Please to watch:



2. He was Mark Cohen in Rent for a while (my favorite character. I love Mark so much!). That's reason enough to like anyone, in my opinion. Here's him singing "What You Own" (one of my favorite songs from the show):



3-6. He's friends with Ellen! He helps raise money for cancer! He prank calls celebrities! Did I mention that he's funny?



I guess that the point I want to leave you with, at the end of all this, is that while I'm happy to be an ally to any gay, I would really prefer that NPH not be gay. I'd like him to be at LEAST bi. Because, really, at this point, the chances of us getting married are not very high. That makes me sad. To cheer me up, here's a clip of him doing an Old Spice commercial in which he references his Dougie Houser days (aka the show I'm about to watch all 97 episodes of before August). Enjoy enjoy!

Prodigy Video Wednesday!

So since Lady Gaga became the world's new obsession (and won Dyxie hearts), everyone on YouTube has done their best to channel her, or at least to do videos in her honor. For instance, you may have seen the video posted by our soldiers in Afghanistan:



... which is just, you know, beyond words great.

But as fun as that is, there's a new kid in town named Greyson Michael Chance, and he is RIDICULOUS. He is 12 and there is a video of him singing Paparazzi and accompanying himself on the piano at his 6th grade talent show, causing the girls sitting behind him to gape at him in awe. He's also quickly becoming the sixth grader I'm most jealous of in the world because he is GOING ON ELLEN TOMORROW. Greyson Michael, say hi for me. Anyway, here's the video which has been burning holes in the internet and converting Justin Bieber fans everywhere:



Can you fucking imagine if this were to happen at your middle school talent show? What 12 year old can do this? Oh, and in case you thought this was just a fluke, here are the two songs he posted on YouTube which he WROTE HIMSELF. If your jaw doesn't drop automatically, may I just remind you that he's 12? I've been around my fair share of 12 year olds and let me tell you, many of them can barely form a coherent sentence. When I was twelve I was too busy battling my hormones and terrorizing everyone to think about anything as productive as writing music. But apparently Greyson is above all that shit! Go ahead and be stunned by the videos below.

Things we missed while on Spring Break SLASH since we've started actually focusing on school.

Ellen and Portia!

Ellen had her wife, Portia on her show and it was just fabulous. Besides me vomiting glitter during the Newlywed Game segment, my favorite part was when Ellen just took Portia’s shoe off. It was just so personal and adorable and I know I’d want to be so close to someone that I could just take their shoes off on national TV. Why is it that people are so protective of their feet? I think I’ve just found a subject for a whole new blog post…

CLIPS!!!





And then they sang to each other as part of Ellen's new segment "Bathroom Concerts." I need the punch bucket to catch my vomit this is so adorable. I can't physically stand it.




Ellen and Katy Perry!

Ellen makes “I Kissed A Girl” coy in an intelligent way instead of a drunken-belligerent way. Because kissing girls doesn’t just happen when straight girls get gaysted. But hey, that is when I have the most hook-up opportunities…

CLIPS!!!



My favorite part is Ellen's little head flip around :52. I'm a fan of Ellen's shorter hair. Hell. I'm just a fan of Ellen.

Something I just want to tell you about:

Sophia Wallace.

I found this great photographer a few weeks ago and just decided that I really love what she’s doing. Check out her website. She does a lot of expository work documenting queer living on a day to day basis. She was up for a showcase opportunity on artslant.com and won! From the way it sounds, her work will be published on artslant from May 17th-April 16th. Her series Truer is amazing. Here's how Wallace describes it:

Truer is an autobiographical love story. The title is aimed at challenging the idea of a singular truth regarding love, sexuality, and gender. This body of work was inspired by the resplendence of an unfolding relationship. Through photographs of intensely private moments both joyful and in conflict, Truer seeks to engage the viewer in questioning pervasive visual depictions of truth in love, gender norms, and feminine beauty. Truer situates itself within a largely unseen history of photography of lesbian lives by lesbian photographers.

It just sounds great.

Here is my favorite 2 photos. I love the blatant intimacy of the first one and the casual familiarity of the second that allows the audience to feel as if they are intruding, giving the shot an air of interrupted intimacy. But not as if you just walked in on them banging, but the intimacy that comes with just hanging out with your girl in gym shorts and no bra. My favorite.





That’s basically it.

I’ve also recently come to the conclusion that Jon & Kate Plus 8 (Minus Maddy equals better show) is getting ridiculous. They get too much money and the fame seems to be tearing the family apart according to the churning rumor mill. And hot college girls…

If Katie D. Ran The Emmys

Awards season has me all pensive about the important things in my life: my television shows. I decided (and my roommate agrees) that I'm the person who should actually decide what wins what awards, and my qualifications are that I watch TV all the fucking time. Here are my picks for the outstanding TV of 2008!

Update: Posting this shit all at once made the blog go fucking nuts, so I'm gonna split it up. Enjoy the suspense!

Show With Quirkiest, Most Lovable Characters:
Bones


One of my roommates hates this show but I cannot resist! They're funny, they solve crimes, they're very unique characters and Angel from Buffy is in it! Plus it looks at the scientific and the supernatural parts of life, not siding with either, particularly. It's also one of those things where you want the main characters to be together - because they're clearly perfect for each other - but the tension is great so you want it to last forever (like on the Office, how much suckier is that show now that Jim and Pam are together? God, just get married already and get a new gimick.) But anyway, Brennan + Booth = love forever! On weekdays at 5 central on TNT or Thursdays at 7 central on Fox.


Most Fascinating, Disturbing, And Addictive Show On Television:
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit


In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories. DUN DUN. Be impressed: that was all from fucking memory, folks! This show is one (like ANTM, see above) that I can sit and watch for an entire day without accomplishing anything meaningful or important. I never feel more alive! I have no favorite characters when it comes to the main cast: Elliot and Olivia are infallible, Munch is hilarious, Ice T is a quality actor, the Captain is lovable and strangely sexy, Wong and the ME are brilliant. I yell at the screen when someone new comes on (remember that bitch who worked with Elliot when Mariska was pregs? I fucking hated that cunt! And the new DA is too model-y and not sassy enough for me) because I'm offended at the intrusion into my universe! You're not an actor til you've been a crazy and/or beaten person on SVU. Truth. On all the fucking time on USA. Seriously, whenever my Tivo is recording something, it's ALWAYS SVU. New episodes Tuesdays at 9 central on NBC.


Best Fucking Daytime Talk Show Ever:
Ellen


Laugh. Dance. Watch Ellen. There's something so ultimately likable about her that I can't imagine anyone not appreciating her, even if they're not fans of the show. Oprah can go suck Gayle's dick when it comes to daytime TV! Plus, she's a big gay lady, and she stands up for shit she believes in. All while she plays fun games, sings in the bathroom, and makes DanRad speak in an American accent. Who could ask for anything more? Ellen and Dan below. It's on during the day, changes according to where you are.

OMG ELLEN AND JOHN MAYER

So as a good television watcher, I of course Tivo the Ellen show just in case she has someone interesting on that I want to investigate (see: obsess over). I've sort of had a thing for John Mayer since I was in 7th grade - because, see, no one understood me and I just had sooooo many feelings - and he's still one of my favorite musicians, despite all these pesky rumors that he's a total douche in real life. Plus, Josh Groban had that one song that was kind of neat and I also find his voice rull purty, so I'm interested in him. So naturally, when I saw that Ellen was having JM AND JG on her show, I had to check it out.

Well the show started out well with a gorgeous duet by Ellen and JG (above) singing a romantic and touching song. It continued with Ellen's regular humor, a little of JM being a douche, and finished up with a FANTASTIC Grammy-themed game of Celebrity (one person holds up a pic of a celebrity over their head and the other person has to get them to guess who it is) courtesy of JM and Ellen. (Then they sang "Just Dance" in Ellen's bathroom.) But really, the game of Celebrity was ah-mah-zing. John Mayer knows his shit! He sang parts of songs from all the people he was hinting for, and he immediately guessed almost all the ones Ellen was hinting for. It was pretty damn cool and I was impressed. Clip below (and hey, it has Japanese subtitles if you're interested!):

I Love Jesus but I Drink a Little

This is from late December but I just stumbled upon it and it's fabulous. If you've ever watched Ellen's show you know that she calls viewers and has conversations with them sometimes, and this time she got someone particularly... feisty. It's 88 year old Gladys from Austin, Texas, and she is just so happy to be talking to Ellen that she shares all sorts of fun things about herself. Gladys had called Ellen to have her move the "spiky plant" from behind her head (lest she look like Alfalfa) and Ellen called her to report the fact that she'd moved it, and they have a wonderful conversation. The woman is a philosopher. I wish this lady was my crazy aunt or something. I'd buy her ladybug broaches all the fucking time. And a little brandy, to thin the blood!

Ellen, grrrl, watchu doin?

Ellen looks thin. Perez Hilton can suck it, I can’t find this picture without his defamation. But really. She should be fed. I thought Ellen was proving that you can be you and still be on the cover of magazines. Is she really feeling the pressure to be thin, since she’s started being the new Spokeswoman for Covergirl?

I hope she’s ok. She is an older woman. But with a hot wife like Portia, I’m sure she’s kept young. Ellen, please be ok.

Let’s indulge.
From the W Magazine interview:
"I also feel myself more of a person than a gender. When people show me clothing that seems very, very feminine, it's hard for me to embrace that, because it just doesn't feel like me. ... It was fun [for the W cover shoot] having somebody do that to my hair, and do that makeup. But would I want to do that every single day? No."

Obsessive Much? Twilight and R Pattz

Ugh. Be sexier, Robert, honestly. The Hotness and the Glory that is Daniel Radcliffe made me think of my other one and only from across the Atlantic, namely Robert Pattinson. No, this isn't creative, but I never claimed it was. I can only say that my adoration for R Pattz stems from much too much wasted time looking up his interviews on YouTube and many too many hours of watching Twilight on my computer. And yes, I do actually like the movie - in my opinion it's much better than the book, because 1. It gets to the fucking point and doesn't mull over every insignificant detail and 2. I don't hate Bella in the movie. In the book she's a whiney bitch. In the movie she's kinda BA. R Pattz and Kristen Bell seemed like they were trying to make the best movie they could, and I thought it was acted it well. So that's my piece on it. Oh and by the way, I'm not even Team Edward - I was in love (do not judge) with Jacob from the second book til the very end. Maybe because Bella's obsessive love of Edward annoyed me? But Robert won me over, and it's to his credit.

But anyway. Robert is super charming because he is of course British, and so I'm giving you the gift of pictures of him. Oh, and a clip of him and Ellen chatting, because if there's anyone I love more than R Pattz it's Ellen DefuckingGeneres.






Although granted I would like it better if he washed his hair. And holy crap this is serendipity: I'm watching TV and for the first time in weeks I accidentally watched a commercial (thanks Tivo). Well, it happened to be that crappy Hillary Duff commercial for her perfume (who buys that shit?) and it has EMMET from Twilight in it! Mute the clip so your ears don't file a suit against you for reckless endangerment or something and enjoy.