Archive for January, 2007
If you haven’t been linked to the New York Times article on The Fugees, a soccer team made of refugees in Georgia headed up by Luma Mufleh — well, take some time and read it.
The Fugees are indeed all refugees, from the most troubled corners — Afghanistan, Bosnia, Burundi, Congo, Gambia, Iraq, Kosovo, Liberia, Somalia and Sudan. Some have endured unimaginable hardship to get here: squalor in refugee camps, separation from siblings and parents. One saw his father killed in their home.
The Fugees, 9 to 17 years old, play on three teams divided by age. Their story is about children with miserable pasts trying to make good with strangers in a very different and sometimes hostile place. But as a season with the youngest of the three teams revealed, it is also a story about the challenges facing resettled refugees in this country. More than 900,000 have been admitted to the United States since 1993, and their presence seems to bring out the best in some people and the worst in others.
They have a few months to find a new grassy place to keep playing soccer, due to the Mayor’s decree that there will be no soccer played in Clarkston, Ga. (Which, honestly, sounds so insane to me. I’m not super-sportsy, but I played soccer for a few years growing up. Almost everyone I knew did.) Find out more about their program, and if you’re so inclined — financially and emotionally — you can donate here: http://www.fugeesfamily.org/
Popularity: 10% [?]
January 24th, 2007
I used to work two blocks away from a Gap store, and every day I walked by it to and from the train station. I remember a moment last year when I was shuffling to the office, head down, intent on my Starbucks latte, when I noticed that the window had changed. The new window featured leggings underneath short denim skirts, and at that moment I began a months-long debate with myself about whether or not I’d follow this trend.
Oh, I wanted to. I wanted to so bad, because while some people might think it’s a cute look, I remember how comfortable leggings were. I mean, when you wear them under a skirt, it’s like wearing pants, so you can totally sit in unladylike ways!
And yet, the debate raged on within my head. Was I too old? Am I too curvy? Could I pull the look off without buying an uncomfortable denim mini-skirt? At the end of the day, I decided against the pull of the leggings.
Then one day I was in Anthropologie and I saw that they had COOL leggings, ones that were thick and wooly like a cableknit fisherman’s sweater. They were pricey – about $40 each – but I snapped up three pair. Well, one pair of great cableknit tights, and a pair of wooly brown leggings with gold flecks and a pair of cream wooly leggings with a fun knit pattern striped throughout. I couldn’t wait to wear them!
But here’s the truth: My ass was not meant to fit in those leggings. The tights fit great. They’re even long enough! But the leggings were some strange variation on “low rise,” and I swear I could not even pull them halfway up my ass before running out of fabric. How humiliating!
I almost gave up. I took the Anthropologie leggings back. I moved on.
Until I found a black/grey/olive striped pair at Target. They were $4. I had to have them. And so I did.
Except I wasn’t meant to have those, either. Sure, they fit. But I wore them out the first time with a little jersey dress, and the dress stuck to the tights all day long in a most unattractive way. My mother would have been horrified that I didn’t wear a slip to combat the problem. But what’s comfortable about that? And if I have to wear some heavy fabric – like the dreaded denim skirt – in order for the leggings to behave admirably, then I don’t want them at all.
*sigh*
I should have gone with my SECOND instinct and avoided this mess altogether. The sad(der) part is that I didn’t even get on the trend until it had pretty much passed me by.
-Amanda
Popularity: 15% [?]
January 18th, 2007
I don’t watch Access Hollywood and my patience for red carpet specials has waned severely, so I hadn’t heard of Katherine Heigl’s comment on the Isiah Washington/T.R. Knight situation until I read Planet Out’s Personality Machine:
In response to Washington’s use of the slur when addressing the situation last night, Heigl spoke out.
“I’m going to be really honest right now, he needs to just not speak in public. Period. I’m sorry, that did not need to be said, I’m not okay with it,” Katherine told Shaun.
When asked if she thought it was just an off-the-cuff remark, Heigl added, “I have no idea what it was, I just find it hurtful…I just feel like this is something that should be very much in house we need to deal with and it’s among us and the cast and crew and among Shonda [Rimes, show creator] and the producers.”
Heigl said that she hoped they work the situation out, making her loyalty to Knight, who plays Dr. George O’Malley on the hit show, clear.
“I don’t think [Washington] means it the way he comes off…But, T.R. is my best friend. I will throw down for that kid. I will beat you up. I will use every ounce of energy I have to take you down if you hurt his feelings,” she said.
We’ve been long-standing fans of Heigl here at PopGurls, and this just made me adore her more. In an industry where things are mostly talked about in hush-hush tones behind the velvet rope — unless, of course, it’s about someone heading into rehab, flashing their hoo-hah or adopting a designer baby — it’s rare to find someone willing to go public and stand up for someone she loves. Like how Heigl burst on The WB scene with Roswell, all luscious curves and smoldering, old-fashioned Hollywood glam, a refreshing change and stunning beauty in a world of stick-thin teen starlets. (Of course you’re still stunning, but honey, please — gain some weight!) Here, now, broadcasting her devotion to her friend, Katherine Heigl shows just another way she’s so incredibly beautiful.
I want to Katie to be my friend. I’ll throw down for her, I promise!
-amy
Popularity: 23% [?]
January 18th, 2007
I don’t know if I’ll manage to get through the entire awards show — these things tend to make me itchy after a while — but I’m extremely happy to see Kyra Sedgwick win. I’ve had this odd soft spot in my heart for her for years now, probably starting around Singles, and I always look forward to seeing her in new roles. The Closer is such a fantastic show, and she is phenomenal on it. If you’ve somehow managed to miss it — pick up the first season, and catch up on the re-runs.
In a rut of regurgitated procedural police dramas, The Closer stands out with smart, original characters and strong, well-crafted stories that don’t have to rely on salacious “ripped from the headlines” drama. If you’re not watching it, you should be. It’s as simple as that.
Popularity: 9% [?]
January 15th, 2007
A new year, a new PopGurls Update!
+ PopGurls Interview: Degrassi and Instant Star’s Linda Schuyler
by Amanda
The co-creator and executive producer of Degrassi and Instant Star talks about storyline do-overs and why turning 18 can’t solve everything. There be spoilers about what’s to come in Instant Star!
+ 10 Albums You Might Have Missed in 2006
by Courtney
We’ve got picks from Viva Voce, El Perro Del Mar, Irving, Jim Noir and more.
Get all this and more at PopGurls.com
Enjoy!
Popularity: 35% [?]
January 11th, 2007
A little more than a year after I wrote my Love Letter to iPod Users, I bought a Creative Zen Vision: M. She is green and lovely, and her video screen is gorgeous. I didn’t even care about getting a video MP3 player, but now that I’ve been mainlining HD versions of Torchwood — I’m utterly smitten. (As per the CNET review: Of course, one could argue that the screen matters more than the container, and here the Vision:M definitely has the iPod beat. Although both devices have 2.5-inch, 320×240-pixel LCDs, the Vision:M’s displays a whopping 262,000 colors to the iPod’s 65,000. And really, it’s stunning.)
So, after a minor driver-installation glitch and a brief non-manual-reading learning curve, all has been well. Except, I can’t find a halfway decent Zen accessory to save my life. Whether I go into Best Buy, Circuit City, Radio Shack, or hit the online retailers — all I can find are iPod goodies. iTrips, docking stations, armbands, and more — all specifically designed for the iPod (and all iPod versions at that). Even with the relatively recent launch of the Zune, there are mini-Zune sections snuggling up to the iPod behemoths. I keep finding stuff for some random Sanska thing. And yet for my pretty little Zen? Nothing.
Amazon, which pimps the Zen for its Unbox, offers up slim pickings in additional links for Zen accessories. Sure, I can get a holder or a skin, but it’s been very hard to track down a decent car add-on so I can play it through my Mini Cooper’s stereo. Really, it shouldn’t be this hard to spend money. And I’m sure there are other Zen users that would also like to dole out some hard-earned cash so that they can enjoy their pretty in more places. I’m telling you, this is just another reason to hate the iPod.
(if anyone has any suggestions for nifty Creative Zen Vision: M things, please let me know!)
Popularity: 8% [?]
January 7th, 2007
So, word on the street is that Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz are splitsville. No official word on either side, and while it barely registered on my pop culture gossip interest — I did note that Justin spent some of the holiday with a “former flame.” And I wondered for a split second if that would have been the same a few years ago, pre-hiatus. I mean, this is the boy who wrote “Gone” after Brit-Brit was out shopping just a little too long.
Even Brad, our resident PopBoy, felt that our melodramatic Justin always did better in the company of The Boys:
No guy’s friends are going to sit around looking sad for him after his girl drops him. “Fuck her!” they would say. “Let’s get drunk and watch some football. What, you don’t have any beer in this sorry refrigerator? Turn on a fucking light for God’s sake, I can’t see a damn thing!” This is because they are secretly happy that she is out of his life and there is one less obstacle to getting drunk and/or acting like the morons they were in the good old days.
Does Justin miss The Boys like we do? Or, at least did, before we lost interest when the hiatus dragged on and on and on… Will he pose on beds and strike mournful looks, sad that there are not four synchronized bobbing heads beside him? (not like that, people! minds out of gutter!) Or does he have a new batch of boys to raid the refrigerator with, make 3am pizza runs with? Now, without Cam, does Justin sing a different tune?
Anyway, I still have hope for Justin and Brit-Brit. For some inexplicable reason, I want those crazy kids to work it out.
-amy
Popularity: 15% [?]
January 5th, 2007
Yesterday, while avoiding work and hopping from random blog to random blog, I came across Violent Acres, or, more specifically, her How to Fight piece. I immediately sent it to several friends.
She talks about being six-years-old and her first experiences with bullying, and how her ex-Marine dad coached her into fighting — much to her mother’s dismay:“
What if someday a vicious serial killer kidnaps her?” my Father asked, “Do you want her to die weeping and begging for her life? Or would you rather she have the courage to wrench the knife from the killer’s hand and stab him in the throat?”
He paused, mid tirade, and said to me, “If that ever happens, V, stab and twist. Stab and twist.“
I’m also fond of screaming nonsensical phrases like “I’m going to eat your eyes!” at potential attackers. I keep saying that to M, while he responds with “stab and twist!” Really, I’m waiting for us both to be taken away to the looney bin.
Anyway, there’s some good advice in here about standing your ground and how fighting dirty is not a bad thing. If you didn’t learn these things at six, then be sure to check ‘em out now.
-amy
Popularity: 14% [?]
January 3rd, 2007
Hey all!
Welcome to the new PopGurls.com blog. We’re by no means giving up the site, just need a little instant gratification… this is our place to fit in the random things that pop into our head as they pop — and an easy way for y’all to comment on what you love, hate and can’t get out of your head.
Like that damn “Dick in a Box” song. I know it’s a few weeks old now, but not a day goes by where the instructions don’t get stuck in my head for a while:
1. Cut a hole in a box.
2. Put your junk in that box.
3. Make her open the box.
Seriously, something clicks on the playlist in my head and i’ve got it stuck on repeat. I’m hoping that it will come in handy at some point, or that it will be replaced by some other educational song. Like my friend E who was thrilled with Gwen Stefani’s song “Hollaback Girl” because now she can never forget how to spell “bananas,” i’d like something that can remind me how to spell “judgment” and the forms of the verbs “lie” and “lay.” Those drive me crazy. Can someone explain it in a catchy-song way, please? I’ll be forever in your debt.
-amy
Popularity: 42% [?]
January 2nd, 2007
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