Bloc Party are supposedly planning on releasing a new A-side in the coming months, and Lauren from atypically.net provides the most likely candidate:

Bloc Party / "Two More Years"

I like it. A little sleeker and less angular than usual.

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Productshop NYC link us to rips of the new Franz Ferdinand single:

Franz Ferdinand / "Do You Want To?"

Jury's still out on this one. It's certainly not dull, but I'm not sure if it's good either.

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Some of my friends who are moving in a couple weeks have been bitching about how hard it is to get a moving van around Labor Day. You think that's hard? Trying finding an available U-Haul in the Gaza Strip these days.

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Ricky Gervais' new show Extras is currently on BBC2 in the UK and coming to HBO in September. The show revolves around Gervais' struggles as actor Andy Millman, and also features his writing partner Stephen Merchant as his inept agent and Ashley Jensen as his friend and fellow extra Maggie. Sam Jackson, Kate Winslett, and Ben Stiller are among the stars playing themselves on the show.



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The Aristocrats has been getting a lot of publicity recently, and almost all of it positive, which makes it pretty unique for an NC-17 movie. I won't bother rehashing the basic premise. I'd say it was pretty good, but I was *slightly* underwhelmed, though mainly because of my high expectations. I think the main problem is that any film which discusses a single joke for 90 minutes is going to have flat parts; more than a few of the comedians featured were a little stale. I'd single out the Amazing Johnathan, Emo Philips, Eddie Izzard and David Brenner as especially worthless.

That said, there were many highlights as well, and it wasn't always the comics I expected. Gilbert Gottfried, Martin Mull, Kevin Pollak (channeling Walken), Sarah Silverman, and Steven Wright had me in stitches. But my favorite was actually Bob Saget. The fact that he's always been known as the dirty comic's dirty comic is one of the worst-kept secrets in Hollywood. Check out an article about it right here.

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I've been linking stuff about the new BRMC album lately and it's proving to be a grower. I can't stop listening to "Weight of the World."


BRMC think they're too cool for school. But guess what...

Check out a NYT article on the new BRMC.

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Who would win a fight between Conan and a bear? I don't know, though I'd say his odds would be better so long as it's the masturbating bear.

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Is Jon Heder aka Napoleon dynamite being exploited?

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My favorite (and aforementioned) Reno 911! perp Terry is played by comic Nick Swardson. He also voices the Gay Robot on the Adam Sandler CDs.

Vids:
Terry high on skittles
Terry working it at Tacos Tacos Tacos

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This is why I can't take rap music seriously. Some highlights from an informative article about Houston's hip-hop scene:

"Screw music is more of a religion. DJ Screw fans -- we call them screwheads. If you tell them you don't like the music, they will fight you and you might get shot at."

That religion's sacrament has been illegally obtained cough syrup (or "sizzyrup"). We're not talking Robitussin but the codeine-laced variety intended for patients with lung cancer. Wall says that screw music evokes the feeling of being stoned on syrup, the same way a pot smoker might get a buzz off a regular cigarette. If you're a "drink man," you go to the syrup dealer, who delivers it in prescription bottles or mini baby bottles. "People mix it with Snapple or Hawaiian Punch," Wall says. "Whatever you prefer. We use Sprite, but I started trying root beer for something different. Or Sunkist. We don't like the new Sprite ReMix, the Aruba Jam."

Good to know.