WWJC- What Would Janky Choose? for June 11

7:16 PM - WWJC- What Would Janky Choose? for June 11
Current mood: nauseated

If you were wondering what would JankyB choose then wonder no more. Here are my picks in the world of pop culture.

Movies- I recently went to the Baghdad Theater here in Portland ($3 movies, old style balcony, and you can eat a slice of pizza and drink a pitcher of beer in the theater..awesome) and saw super cool movie called "Grindhouse". For those that haven't seen it yet, it has my stamp of approval. It is actually a double feature. Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids) directs the bloody over the top zombie flick and Quentin Tarantino ( Kill Bill, Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction) gives you a movie where girls really kick ass. Kurt Russels' misogynistic ass to be exact. These are both a sort of tribute to the over the top, cheesy, ultra violet exploitation films of the 1970's. It's obvious these guys love the grindhouse genre and they have fun kickin' it old school here. It's really just a fun, kick ass experience with lots of moments that make you want to cheer...which the audience I saw it with wasn't afraid to do. Grindhouse is definitely the coolest movie I have seen in a while, but how could it not be with these two directors in control. It is fun escapism at its most exploitive and goriest.

Old Movies- I'm feeling kinda sick today, so I've been curled up on the couch watching older movies that don't suck. Have you seen the late 70's version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"? You should. It's a great sci fi flick shot in a very film noir style where you can't trust anyone and things feel wrong and creepy right from the start. If this was film class I could do a whole paper on how it relates to alientation in a postmodern world...but I'm not and I wont do that to you. It stars Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum and Lenard Nimoy. I own it if you wanna borrow a copy.

I watched another 70's era film, a documentary called "Grey Gardens" which I'd heard about but never got around to watching until now. I enjoyed it, but it's not for everybody. The film shows you the eccentric, often sad and bitter, but always musical lives of a mother and daughter living in a old mansion that could possibly become condemned due to it's janky state. These two women who love and resent each other apparently used to be beautiful, talented, and rich. They are also the cousin and aunt of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. This is a great character study of two great characters. The daughter..Little Edith went a little crazy somewhere along the way...probably during the 25 years she has been stuck taking care of her mother at Grey Gardens, while missing out on any life of her own. This is a cult classic that I'm glad I finally saw.

Books
If you want a good laugh out loud read you can't go wrong with any of the books by David or Amy Sedaris. He writes hysterical brutally honest short stories that leave me crying with laugher. Among his books are "Naked" "Holidays on Ice","Me Talk Pretty Someday" and "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim."
Trust me they are all good. He is a self involved, obsessive compulsive, sometimes abuser of vice, gay guy who was a weird little gay outcast as a child. It was creepy how much we actually had in common at times. And you feel like you may know his family as well as if you were one of them. I love his mom so much it surprises me.

His Sister is the uber talented Amy Sedaris.
You may know her as Jerry Blank from "Strangers With Candy." She also voices on of the princesses in Shrek the Third. I love her so much I could just kidnap her and keep her in the basement forever! This girl is crazy. And a Crazy Good Host. I have her book "I like you. Hospitality Under the Influence." The book is of course funny, but it is not a joke book. There are some great recipes and party ideas from cover to cover. Amy also co wrote a innovative satire called "Wigfield" with her two close friends Paul Dinello and Stephen Colbert. Yeah...Colbert Nation host Stephen Colbert.
I liked this book so much that I wanted to steal the general idea and blog the crap out of it. It is written in small pieces through the voices of the jankiest, trashiest strippers, arsonists, and equally shady citizens of the soon to be destroyed town of Wigfield...which is really just a strip of highway with a lot of strip clubs and junkyards.
Inmates
I pick Martha Stewart over Paris Hilton. Yeah Martha is a ruthless bitch, but when she was sentenced to prison time she showed up early and did her time. Paris "I'm fucking famous for having more money than anyone should" Hilton showed up late to jail after trying to take over the MTV movie awards. She toughed it out for 2 whole days before some idiot sheriff decides she should be released due to an unspecified medical condition. I was so happy when the judge said no fucking way to that and threw her ass back in. Apparently she was crying and calling out for her Mom and even going so far as to make the sign of the cross while in court. Too bad her and Martha's sentences weren't in sync because I'd really like to see Paris become Ms. Stewart's personal bitch.
Beverages
I pick the yummy for my tummy Caramel Frapachino's over the kinda nasty Orange Creamcicle ones at Starbucks. I love t he Caramel ones. I could drink those all day. And I really like getting them at the Starbucks that are inside of Fred Myers. Do you know why? You aren't allowed to tip them when they are Freddy's employees. I can tell them how much I want to, but they can't accept it. Is it wrong to enjoy that so much?
Sports
I also pick the feel good sport of Frisbee now that the weather is so nice. Unlike the equally boring and stressful sport of baseball Frisbee is actually fun. Those are my picks. Let me know if you try any of them.