Connect
flickr
Tag: nyc
#331; Occupy the Upper East Side
I’ve been loving the celebrity-watching going on in NYC at the Occupy Wall Street protests – everyone from Rosanne Barr to Lupe Fiasco has showed up (here in Boston we’ve had an impromptu performance by Amanda Palmer and a pep-talk by Cornel West), but one of my favorite responses so far has been from protester Penn Badgley. His ironic, jaded opinion on his line of work just tickled my fancy.
#occupywallstreet – Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley was picketing personally this week. Yep, carrying a sign and all. “I mean, listen, it’s cheesy,” he said, “but I want to do whatever I can. Let’s be honest: I’m on fucking Gossip Girl. It’s absurd that celebrity power is what it is, even on that scale, but, like, use any tool you have, you know?” – Source
#203; the thinking gal’s Gossip Girl
After my recent discovery of the charming acting persona that is Penn Badgely (thanks to a surprise viewing of Easy A), I went looking for more of his work and found a show called The Bedford Diaries. It is awesome. I found all 8 episodes (I truly cannot believe they canceled it!) and I love just about everything about it – every storyline, the quotes, the premise, every character (even the ‘adults’). But I got thinking, it’s essentially the thinking gal’s Gossip Girl, right? The difference being: these are adults dealing with adult issues (family, pregnancy, addiction, suicide, education, socio-economic disparity) in ways that are far more realistic than the teenagers of GG. And so, in true OCD and tv-fandom fashion, I did a character comparison. The two shows match up nearly perfectly, with the exception being that Bedford Diaries doesn’t have a Serena-like character. Which makes a lot of sense to me – if BD is the intellectual version of GG, then there isn’t much place for a Serena, because she hasn’t had much in the way of thinking storylines. Am I wrong? Thoughts? Either way, my reasoning behind the matches and thoughts on each charcter/relationship to follow.
#202; youth & politics look good together
Watching Mitt Romney’s announcement today of his running for President got me thinking — where are all the crushworthy candidates? Where is a Bill Clinton for my mom to swoon over? Who will cause a scandel with their $400 haircut? Would we ever want to see any of these candidates frolicking on the beach like Obama?
Honestly? No. I do not want to think about what Mitt Romney looks like in swim trunks, no matter how much I appreciate the man’s fiscal policy. And face it, Sarah Palin may have rocked the bathing suit pagaent circut at one point, but I doubt we’re going to see her strutting down the run way any time soon being that she’s super-conservative these days.
And so, of this curiosity, this list was born: the next generation of poltically involved, somewhat dyanstic cuties. What do you think? Anyone I’ve missed? (list is in no particular order and Party/affiliation didn’t particularly matter!)
** You’ve been warned, fyi, of the complete ridiculousness to follow. Vapid fan-girling, harmless crushing, and behavior worthy only of giggling and possibly shaking your head are sure to be included. Feel free to join me, if you like, or you can explain this away with an air of seriousness I simply don’t possess today. Either way, warning of total silliness officially declared. **