feelin' hot hot hot

this past week has been quite the smorgasbord of awesome. let's review, shall we?

1. hanson being badass.

few things or people make my inner teenybopper squeal like isaac, taylor, and zac, and i feel like a proud parent that the boys have kept on keepin' on since 1997 and make such ridiculously great music. i feel like i could take even the most staunch hanson hater to a show and they'd walk away wanting to get a "hanson 4 lyfe" tattoo. but anyways, i attended my 5th (yes 5th) concert by the trio last night and as usual, it felt pretty much like christmas morning. and speaking of, they busted out two completely unexpected holiday gems from snowed in, their 1997 christmas album AND coincidentally best christmas album ever, no exaggeration.

my only wish was that a situation like this one, that occurred just a few nights ago in montreal, happened at our show, so isaac (aka "old man hanson") could have pulled this badass move on this guy who pushed two drunk annoying girls down. starts at 1:28. loves it.

2. EGGNOG'S BACK!

i think i might be the only fan of this EPIC drink, but i don't understand how anyone can not love it. it's pretty much like melted vanilla ice cream with a hint of cinnamon in a cup. plus, you can put rum in it! though i must admit i'm somewhat of an eggnog purist and don't like any mix-ins in my 'nog. nommm.

3. "lipdub" videos

where have these been all of my life? i grew up lip-synching in my mirror and i think i'm pretty darn good. so when i saw this one-take lip-synch to the black eyed peas' "i've got a feeling" by a group of canadian college students on the today show the other morning, i basically thought i'd found my calling. this is the best of the bunch, but there's some other hilarious ones if you feel like scrolling through the related vids.

4. girl talk's album "all day"

i never got into this dude before, but after several friends suggested that i check out the latest release from the mash-up master, downloadable for FREE on this site, i took the bait andddd promptly fell in love. ludacris' "move, bitch" over black sabbath's "war pigs"? foxy brown's "hot spot" over peter gabriel's "in your eyes"? it's over an hour of fantastic goodness. if you like to smile, you need to download this album. ASAP. :)

THE MCVERDICT IS IN.

i had heard whisperings of the sandwich before. a sketchy-sounding "pork patty" smothered in barbeque sauce and covered with pickles and onions from mcdonald's that only appeared on the menu for limited-time intervals. but just last week, talk of the mcrib's return reached a fever pitch, with countless tweets, facebook status updates and random declarations of love for this strange and intriguing culinary invention. mcdonald's themselves seemed to enjoy the sandwich's cult following, launching a "legends of mcrib" campaign that encouraged devotees to share the story of their first time. with the mcrib, that is.

not being able to resist the temptation and hype that was swirling about (not to mention, being a secret fatty and loving all things fast food and/or barbeque), i just had to try the mcrib. as i pulled up to the drive-thru, hands shaking in anticipation, an angelic voice greeted me, "welcome to mcdonald's. would you like to try the mcrib?" damn, they're good. "yes, actually, i would!" and, as i lick the last traces of barbeque sauce off of my fingers, my curiosity has finally been satisfied. the mcrib is pretty darn mcyummy - i'd give it a 7 out of 10.

now, i wouldn't say that i'd eat this thing for every meal for the rest of my life. and i don't think it necessarily merits a grandiose obsession. i much prefer the angus 1/3 pounders. but the meat was surprisingly tasty, the barbeque sauce had the perfect amount of tang, and the onions gave it a little extra kick. i'm also quite bitter because i only got ONE pickle, so that might have lowered my rating a notch or two, but overall, not awful for a fast food joint's try at barbeque. i hear this run is only 6 weeks, so get 'em while they're hot! but you know the mcrib will be back. oh, it'll be back.

the happiest man in the friggin' world

it all started in a wet seal, circa 2003 (i was 17, don't judge). i was lolling about, looking for some god-awful top with gold paint streaks, or a witty phrase, or who knows what. and there, on the 10 million tv screens throughout the store, some shiny-happy-spritely blonde man singing "whoa-ohs" immediately captured my eyes and ears. it was catchy, by god, and i liked it! but i never caught who it was or any of the lyrics, really, so it wasn't until months later that i happened upon this one-man-band, the rocket summer, and realized it was indeed the same peppy lil' guy. in the years that followed, i became a very big fan of TRS (real name: bryce avary).

disclaimer: this man writes AMAZING, beautiful songs and is incredibly talented...but he's also INCREDIBLY happy. like scary-happy. so happy, in fact, that he sent one of my friends running in fright at one of his shows in poughkeepsie after he shot confetti out of a cannon at the audience. "it's like a cult!" she screamed. after said show, which was cut short due to the bump 'n' grind clubbers at the loft, another one of my friends and i headed over to talk to bryce, who was near his merch table. "i'm so mad!" he said, beaming from ear to ear. looks it, buddy! as we took a picture together (conveniently left out of this post due to my unfortunate haircut at the time), i encouraged us to make angry faces to commemorate the events of the evening. yeah, he didn't get the memo. still smiling. that aside, dude is good people AND like i said....makes good music. here's my favorite of his tunes, "hills and valleys". again, the video is cheesy as hale. but i can dig it.