Thursday, May 23, 2019

remembering the brendan leonard show




strange as it may sound, i credit some of my favorite musical discoveries to a bad wendy’s cheeseburger and a gang of dorky midwestern teenagers.


i don’t remember the exact date, nor what else i did that day (aside from having wendy's for lunch). i do remember, however, that it was the summer of 2003, that the weather was miserably hot and sticky, and that i'd somehow weaseled out of getting a "real" job by picking up a ton of babysitting gigs with children who pinched, tormented, and lied to me. retail probably would have been a field day. 

as babysitters went, i wasn't the greatest. sure, the kids loved me because i rapped them eminem instead of singing them lullabies and turned a blind eye and deaf ear when they traipsed around upstairs long after their bedtimes. but i also temporarily lost a pet rabbit, backed my car into a tree, and set off the smoke detector while trying to microwave popcorn. but, it got me by and allowed me to live a life of leisure for a few months.

anyway, there i was, feeling queasy on the couch at my parents' house after eating a tainted JBC. i started flipping through channels and stopped on ABC family (now called freeform or some bull). a group of awkward teenage boys who looked neither like TV stars—nor like they were acting—goofed around, ribbing each other and making bad jokes. it was weirdly, refreshingly unpolished, and if i didn’t know any better, i would have thought i was watching a cable access show. which, i found out later, was how the show began.

(this intro will forever give me ALL OF THE WARM FUZZIES and make me crack the biggest smile)


as it went to commercial break, i learned that i was watching the brendan leonard show. brendan, the son of journalist mike leonard, had parlayed his chicago cable access show into a summer slot on every teen’s favorite cable channel. like a more wholesome jackass with a quirky twist, the understated, down-to-earth nature of BLS quickly won me (and a small but dedicated legion of my peers) over. there were no special effects, the production was bare-bones, and the show relied completely on the cast members and skit concepts to make it all work. some ideas fared better than others, but it was always real, and almost always amusing; the “spatulas” bit remains one of my favorites:



the show aired every weekday for that whole summer, and many episodes had a “band of the day” whose songs provided the soundtrack for each skit. these included superchunk, jets to brazil, ted leo & the pharmacists, the promise ring, built to spill, and guided by voices. like, were these the coolest fucking high school kids ever or what? while i was familiar with a few of them prior to watching the show, every day presented the opportunity for a new, awesome band to enter my life—many of whom I still listen to frequently (arlo, the plus ones, and the long winters, to name a few). 

while many shows with great music have come and gone over the past 16 years, none aligned quite so perfectly with both my sense of humor and taste in music. it was sadly canceled after that summer (though the boys went on to do some hilarious shorts a few years later—including my favorite, "the gods of pogs," below), but the summer of the brendan leonard show will forever hold a very special place in my heart. thanks, wendy's!


Wednesday, May 8, 2019

100 things that make me ridiculously happy

at least once every year, i dig up this xojane article (now unlinked because xojane has gone bye-bye and deleted EVERYTHING, ugh) in which julieanne smolinski shares her happy list—stuff that always makes her smile and reminds her of the good in life, including "videos of pigs running" and "terrible magicians." i did a similar post a few years ago, but i felt like it was about time for a refresh (and now, i'm adding another 25 to my 75 from 2018). what would be on your list? share 'em in the comments!

1. bungalow houses
2. pizza parlor smell
3. this video that i took of drunk basics singing miley cyrus in a new orleans karaoke bar

A video posted by Kim Windyka (@kimmyloowho) on


4. the fact that there's a band called diarrhea planet and they're actually good (2019 update: RIP diarrhea planet!)
5. rapping A$AP rocky's "fuckin' problems" in full
6. summer thunderstorms
7. this banana cake i bake that's soooo gooood (2018 update: I CAN'T EAT BANANAS ANYMORE #tragic) (2019 update: I CAN EAT BANANAS AGAIN #blessed)
8. dunkin' fucking donuts
9. exchanging a smile with a cute stranger
10. the "daughter's hand" episode of beavis and butthead
11. the idea of getting a beavis and butthead tramp stamp
12. dancing like a ratchet ho to hip-hop in my apartment and sometimes in public
13. watching hip-hop choreography videos
14. going to weddings
15. saying "dishes are done, man" from don't tell mom the babysitter's dead, apropos of nothing
16. meeting delightfully weird people while traveling
17. sleeping in my own bed after traveling
18. sinbad's stand-up comedy
19. synchronicity
20. tilt-a-whirls
21. a first kiss that gives me the tingles
22. when multiple friends send me hanson-related content at the same time because they know how much i love them
23. the song "move, bitch" by ludacris and mystikal
24. tacky thrift store t-shirts
26. finishing the crossword
27. skateboard vert competitions
28. my friend's apartment in portland, maine that's straight out of the '90s: (2018 update: he no longer lives here #tragic)


29. kurt vile's wakin' on a pretty daze on vinyl
30. jackass
31. coolidge corner in brookline
32. american eskimo puppies
33. butcher-block countertops
34. this live performance of "get found" by bass drum of death



35. remembering that my old neighbor had ass-length blonde dreadlocks
36. pretty much every line from she's the man
37. buying apple cider donuts in the fall
38. a good cross-breeze in my apartment
39. witty text banter with a guy i really like
40. harry styles
41. porch swings
42. rompers
43. jaren johnston's voice, goddamn:



44. vacation anticipation
45. pickford in dazed and confused
46. jake kiszka from greta van fleet, who sort of looks like pickford in dazed and confused, doing guitar solos behind his back (this was actually from the show i was at last summer and i still can't deal):



47. eating brunch and reading trashy magazines at the counter at trident booksellers on newbury street
48. the sweet vanilla cinnamon candle from anthropologie
49. the strokes from 2001-2004
50. when my family and i drunkenly dance around my aunt and uncle's kitchen island with utensils at almost every gathering
51. bars that have big buck hunter
52. 2 chainz "most expensivest shit" series (and 2 chainz in general)
53. chocolate-covered gummy bears
54. nonstop flights
55. slightly trashy, old-school carnivals
56. the rolls with honey-cinnamon butter from texas roadhouse
57. the huji app, which makes every photo look like it's from a 1998 disposable camera:


58. unexpectedly seeing a ladybug
59. youtube tarot readings, even if they're bullshit
60. david spade's stand-up/all of his appearances on ellen/david spade in general:



61. the cold brew from caffe vita in new york
62. seeing bunnies in my neighborhood
63. the dimmer in my dining room
64. boho bands, the best bracelets ever:


65. MANCHEGO CHEESE
66. root beer floats
67. salem, ma around halloween time
68. 2-for-$20 woodsy vanilla-esque victoria's secret fragrances that are always baaasically the same—just with new names—but still delightful (rockin' "bare vanilla" rn)
69. the "joyful, joyful" scene in sister act 2
70. the way james spader's character says "you're a bitch" with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth in pretty in pink
71. when people actually check out my music recommendations and like them!
72. the hard times and reductress headlines
73. petting and/or saying hi to strangers' dogs
74. when someone i think is especially cool follows me first on instagram/twitter OR likes my photo/tweet
75. the gingerbread cottages on martha's vineyard
76. ice t's tweets:





77. a really well-made whiskey sour
78. scentsational's midnight woods candle
79. bright, colorful nail polish
80. ALPACA CONTENT/ALPACAS IN GENERAL:




81. hanging plants
82. seeing old photos of my parents and their friends looking incredibly fucking cool
83. PORCHFEST
84. a friday night with no plans after a long week, when i get to curl up on the couch and eat sushi or pizza and watch a movie i've been wanting to
85. being that beautifully perfect level of drunk or stoned
86. the *idea* of living in a big, colorful, old house in somerville in my 20s with a bunch of roommates that all got along and danced around the kitchen and hung out together drinking wine on a big deck with twinkly lights (this never happened, i just love thinking about it because i'm bizarre and like, how fun would that have been?)
87. finding a really cool vintage item that fits me perfectly
88. exposed brick
89. the illustrations in one of my favorite childhood books, gobble and gulp (mostly because they are of desserts):



90. when i randomly remember an obscure song i loved that's not on spotify and locate it elsewhere on the internet
91. adorable "how we met" stories
92. the scene in lords of dogtown where emile hirsch is dancing to "fire" by jimi hendrix/lords of dogtown in general because it is perpetually my summer mood:



93. jewelry that involves a chunky gemstone
94. playing air guitar to the solo in avenged sevenfold's "bat country" because it riiiiips
95. this quote i saved from a now-defunct folkloric advice column, ask baba yaga, because it's the best, most beautiful dating advice i've ever read:


Only a fool would welcome a soiled table of crumbs & empty bottles. Let them, those who would feast, bring jugs & baskets, bring fruits & goodly onions. Yr table is not for the vagrants or the doomed. ; ( Yr table is for the sweet dark wine & the tender herbs & a good eye winking at you above a full glass. Wait for the guest who carries fresh meats, & until then, eat yr fine soups by yrself, & open the windows so the birds may come in yr house & charm yr table with their beauty.


96. looking up from my phone/book every day on the t when we go above ground in between kendall and charles MGH to see the gorgeous view of boston (even when it's raining)
97. joey ramone eating a chicken wing in the back of a convertible in rock 'n roll high school:



98. cities with magical/secret/charming alleys
99. the phrase "stone fox"
100. cheeseburger + fries + milkshake