toast of the town
last night my awesome high school and college buddy gregg helvey - one of the friendliest, most spontaneous and creative people i have ever had the pleasure of knowing - was nominated for an Academy Award in the “best live action short” category for his reality-based fictional film KAVI, which he wrote and directed, and which exposes the disturbing truth about modern-day child slavery and human trafficking. you may have noticed a number of celebs wearing blue ribbons at the event; they were demonstrating personal support for gregg’s movie and cause.
an Academy… freaking… Award! i used to mess around with four-minute vocabulary videos in 11th grade french with this dude, and yesterday he was nominated for an Oscar! my man has officially reached the big leagues and his career has barely even started. you’ve probably already missed your last reasonable chance to buy stock in the next james cameron.
KAVI didn’t win, but i couldn’t be more proud of my old friend for so clutchly repping loudoun county, LVHS, and UVa. durham loves you, Double G!
click here to watch the trailer, read more about gregg’s amazing film, and learn how you can help put an end to child slavery.
absolute truth
tonight, in the crowded parking lot of a Longhorn Steakhouse in sterling, virginia, i was reminded that some american traditions - the best and most important ones, to be sure - transcend state boundary lines and local socio-academic allegiances. these are the essence of our proud nation.
just peeled out of the duke medical campus, not to return for ten full glorious days. this moment marks the official start of a week-long vay-cay divvied up between meemo’s house in p-town and the swankadank Clifton Inn on the bucolic outskirts of charlottesville.
color me euphoric.
happy 19th bday to my heart-breaking, lax-playing, niece-loving lil’ bro, cameron “uncle bubba” carothers!
the weekend of feb. 20th was incredibly special: our only neice, tovia, ranked in the top 2 cutest babies in the northern hemisphere, turned one year old. the mere fact that we were in attendance was out brent and andrea’s grace. they put us up on an air mattress in their own bedroom while…
OK Go got a ton of pub in 2006 for the hypnotic treadmill routine in the music video for their hit song “Here It Goes Again.”
now they’re back and making waves with a new single, “This Too Shall Pass.” the song is pretty catchy, i’d give it a 7 out of 10.
i give the video a 26.
an industrial strength toolbox
i don’t usually watch “The Bachelor” because of a strong fundamental objection to its premise; i think the very idea of twenty women cooped up in a house and encouraged to scratch and claw their way to the finals of a two-week single-elimination hunk-marrying tournament is degrading to their entire gender and pretty much the exact opposite of God’s intended design for courtship.
that said, this brutal show is astoundingly popular and happens to be one of andrea’s guilty pleasures, so i somehow found myself involved in last night’s excruciating two-hour championship main event… er, series finale.
nevermind the fact that the guy ends up choosing (and proposing to!) an abrasive, juvenile sorority girl who was universally hated by the other contestants… er, ladies. the most appalling part had to be when he issued the following profound statement:
“tomorrow, one of these women is going to be my fiancee. i just don’t know which one.”
in general, i try to give these reality TV stars the benefit of the doubt, because i realize their shows are edited in such a way as to maximize their entertainment factor. but i’m sorry… this guy is a colossal butt-sniffer.
