The Middle Distance Runner Decade in Review: Internet Memes

I have been recently watching all of the "Know Your Meme" webisodes by Rocketboom and it inspired me to kick off this blog's review of the decade. I know I'm way overdue with writing my top lists of everything but thankfully no one reads this otherwise I would have a lot of angry readers. Anyway here are my top 5 favorite memes of the decade. If you've never seen these before I encourage you to check out all the remixes and variations of these memes. I'm sure most people have seen these before.

Mad Cuddlez Episode 3: TV Has Made Me Lazy

This week Clare, Poozle, and Spiz start talking about the end of the decade. Sad. This episode we focus on the television of the decade. We also discuss why 500 Days of Summer sucked. That topic leads into the best movies of every year except this one because we couldn't really come up with movies we've seen this year. Don't forget to get your list for the Songs of the Decade in by Friday, December 11th as we will be discussing that in an upcoming episode. Thanks for listening. Subscribe to the show in the iTunes Music Store, email questions and comments to madcuddlez@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter(@Spizarelli,@finethanksokay,@oksurewhatever) and keep reaching for the stars.

Songs in this Episode

"Baby Can't Stop" Linstrom & Christabelle

"Bad Romance" Lady GaGa

"Bits and Pieces" Junior Boys

"Big Girl" Ghostface

"To Kingdom Come" Passion Pit

iTunes

Direct Download

madcuddlez@gmail.com

Suprisingly Boring Twitter Feeds

So it's been a week since I joined the tweeting masses and I sorta went overboard with following anyone and everyone I could think of. I've come across some Twitterers that I thought were going to make me laugh, or think, or react, but have sadly caused me to move on past their little updates. Here are a few:

Bob Saget

I was hoping for some funny jokes or some profane commentary, but all he does is talk about how great the events are that he's attending. He promotes his appearances, and he interacts with his followers, but not really anything funny there in his updates. I guess he's saving all that for the shows. No free comedy on Twitter. Unfollowing...now.

Teagan Presley

I decided on day one that I'm going to follow porn stars. I was too afraid to join porn star fan clubs on MySpace and Facebook, but for whatever reason I said, "Whatever, fuck it" when it comes to Twitter. To be honest, most porn star Twitter feeds are pretty boring. They go shoot, they come home, they go to sleep, repeat. Occasionally you'll get some iPhone pics of them and their goodies which is cool. Teagan sticks out in my mind, not because she is boring, but she's just really annoying to read. All she does is talk about how great her husband and kids are. She talks about how much better of a man her husband is than all other men. She talks about how she picks up her kids from various activities. Can there be no bigger turn off for a porn viewer than a porn star talking non-stop about her husband and kids? I think not. She did post some pics for the first time yesterday since I started following her, but I don't know if that will be enough to keep me following her.

Zooey Deschanel

One fucking tweet? GAH It's not fair. =(

I mean she's not even following anyone. Why open an account?

C'MON...

That last one was kind of a cop out. I'm the idiot for not unfollowing her. I'm hoping that one day she'll get on the ball and talk about how great the spaghetti that Ben Gibbard made was.

I guess that's all. Just those three. Which is pretty good considering I'm following 126 people after only one week of joining. For the most part Twitter is amazing. It's the people that make it so amazing. Awww, group hug.

The Made Cuddlez Podcast Episode 2: Carl's Jr Beats Mom's Burgers

Wonderful fast food anger, public transportation anger, and a whole lot of Pierre ranting. The Mad Cuddlez Songs of the Decade is discussed, I hate Lego Rock Band(though my opinion has changed slightly) and The Mad Cuddlez Podcast welcomes JJ to the mic as he tell about moving to the BK. And about how HAWT his neighbor is. Please subscribe to the show on iTunes, email us questions and comments at madcuddlez@gmail.com. Get your submissions for the Songs of the Decade in by December 4th. Spread the Mad Cuddlez!

Direct Download
Subscribe to iTunes

Links

Muni Lady

Bistek

Taylor Swift Band Hero Commercial

JJ's Blog

Songs in this episode:
Could You - Daniel Merriweather
C.R.E.A.M - El Michels Affair

Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend

P.Y.T. - Michael Jackson

I Wanna Get Married - De Cylinder

Four Track - The Misled Children and Odean Pope

Don't - Mirah

When to Flex Your Muscle?

Everyone is an expert at something. Personally I pride myself in following the video game industry. I try to play everything that I can, I visit message boards, and I wear t-shirts with Mario and Link on them. When I need medical advice, I ask my wife . We have the unofficial King of Useless Information right here on this blog, so whenever I need useless information, I go to him.

Are you the kind of person that feels compelled to correct someone? I mean, if you know something and someone doesn't know something or states something incorrectly, do you feel like it's your duty to correct them? I experienced a situation like this today at school. Someone mentioned Modern Warfare 2 today and of course, I became the center of attention because I am the gamer of the group. I didn't have much to say about the game because I haven't played it yet, but I mentioned that MW2 now featured customizable kill streaks and that you could drop a nuke during a multiplayer match if you could get a 25 kill streak which is insane. Then one of my classmates said that he got a 55 kill streak in COD4 so getting 25 should be a breeze.

I don't play the Call of Duty games that much or that well for that matter. The highest kill streak I've ever reached was 17. I really found it hard to believe that someone could get a 55 kill streak in any kind of multiplayer match(public or ranked). Maybe they happen all the time, I don't know. My point is I really just wanted to call bullshit and say, "You probably confused multiplayer with single player" or something like that. I didn't say anything though because in situations like this, where I just want to teach and nerd out about something, the first thing I think is:

"DUDE NO ONE CARES!"

No one will give a shit whether or not I correct this guy. They obviously enjoy video games, but not to the point where they follow the industry. What's the point in correcting someone if it doesn't matter to them? Also, I didn't want to shit on this guy because he was so enthusiastic talking about COD that it put a smile on my face and I wanted him to keep talking about gaming. I don't really get to nerd out about games that much in real life so I welcome any opportunity someone wants to talk games with me. I feel like my case is unique in that playing video games is such a niche thing. I'm sure that people are more keen to learn about law, or medicine, or literature, or some other more socially accepted activity. Talking about eating candy would draw more interest than me talk about games.

Anyway I was just curious to hear how people react in situations like this. Are you more inclined to teach, or correct? If not, why?

The Mad Cuddlez Songs of the Aughts

We're about to get ambitious. Pierre and I want to know want you're favorite songs of this decade are. We're going to tally up your nominations, debate, agree, disagree, and then we will reveal a list of 100 songs that defined this decade. Here are some rules when making your lists.

-No restrictions on genre. As long as you can prove that it came out this decade, go for it.

-Song must have been released this decade obviously. For now we're not allowing covers, so they won't be counted if they're on your list.

-Please number your lists. Ranking plays a big part because songs that are ranked at the top will be awarded more points than songs that are lower ranked. Lists that are not numbered will be scored like this: every song on the list will only get one point.

-Please make a list of at least 20 songs. That shouldn't be too tough. Max should be 100 but I won't stop you if you're feeling ambitious. Please don't give me like 500 songs though.

A good resource to start at is Wikipedia. Check what came out each year to get your brain going. I don't have a deadline for this yet, but it'll probably be a month from now. Then we will reveal the list at some point before New Year's. Depending on the participation, we might do more lists, like movies, games, etc but for now we're sticking to music. Email your lists at madcuddlez@gmail.com Thanks doodes.

Paranormal Activity and Why I Don't Bother with the Horror Genre

So Andrea wanted to do something Halloweenish for Halloween and what's more Halloweenish than watching a scary movie on Halloween night? For the most part I don't really watch Halloween movies. Don't get me wrong, I love gore, but I find it silly to watch something that does nothing but startle you. There's a difference between fear and being startled. I'm sure that there are pretty cool horror movies that focus on story and gore, and not just doing the monster closet thing, but I just don't bother searching through all the crap.

Anyway, watching Paranormal Activity had to be one of the funnest movie experiences I've had this year. Not the funnest, but I really enjoyed myself. The whole premise of the movie is that some smart ass thought it would be awesome to document via video camera the demon spirit that has been haunting his current girlfriend since she was a kid. Every night he sets up a camera in their bedroom before they go to sleep, and while they sleep all this funny ass shit happens. Lights turn on and off, doors open and close. It gets progressively worse, and I don't want to spoil too much but I really just started laughing my ass off as the movie got closer to the end. Maybe I'll talk more about my favorite part in the next podcast, but I won't spoil it here. The male protagonist continues to taunt this demon by demanding it show itself, by buying a Ouija board to try to communicate with it, and in the end he learns his lesson. Don't fuck with demons.

The whole idea that people in the theater around me, including Andrea, was buying into this shit was ridiculous. It was hard not to get invested I guess because the two main characters were so likable. The man was funny, charming, and a lovable idiot. The woman was a cute girl next door with a craft table who liked to read. Very approachable characters. Sure some of the stuff that happened was extremely freaky, but I could not ignore the sounds of fright coming from the audience, especially one woman in particular. Thank GAWD that woman was there that night to keep me entertained. She kept saying, "Oh hell no!" "If I was that bitch, I'd get the fuck outta that house!" "If that motha fuckin' demon walks in the bedroom one more time I swear I will leave." Thank you vociferous woman for making that movie entertaining. I was worried to because the movie starts off really slow and lately I've had a tendency to fall asleep during movies in the theater(except for Zombieland because that movie fucking ruled). I also entertained myself by taking pleasure in the fact that Andrea was terrified and I refused to let her use my hand so that she could cover her eyes. I told her, "Why did you spend 12 bucks(12 BUCKS) on a movie if you're just gonna sit here and not watch it?" "Fuck that," I said.

Also

I just want to remind everyone that the entire basis of this blog was for anyone who wanted to contribute could do so. This was meant to be a public domain for anyone to write a letter to someone. Could be someone that reads this blog, could be a letter that was never meant to be read, etc. That's where the whole correspondence thing originates from. I wanted it to be a long formed message board where people could communicate. I also use it for other things. I'm trying to write reviews as much as possible because I still have hope that I can freelance write somewhere and I'd like to have a nice portfolio I can show off.

Anyway, I'm asking for people who want to contribute to this. I'm not going to be snobbish about it at all. All that I ask is that you put something here. It'll keep me honest too. I have to do my part also. Write to us. Someone will respond. Post your art, post your Youtube links, post your mixtapes. Let's share. I think everyone will benefit. Thank you.

Sorry I Haven't Been Around

I promised on last week's podcast to try to write more for this blog. I guess I've been distracted with other things. It's funny because I wanted to do a podcast to support the blog, but all of my attention has been on making a podcast every two weeks or so. I'm going to try my darnedest to write something here daily from now on. Whether it be random thoughts like this or a review of something I meant to review 3 months ago. Something will be up here daily.

I guess I should bring you up to speed on what's been going on with me. I spend most of my days thinking about school and playing with my new cats. First, school has been wonderful. I always told myself that I shouldn't go back to school unless I'm seriously interested in the subject, to the point that I actually do not just homework, but extracurricular activities, as well as supplemental reading. I have been doing all of these things. Working in the sound industry somewhere is something I cannot wait to do. Everyday there are new light bulbs being turned on inside of my head, and that's the best feeling. I mentioned this on Facebook but we're looking for bands to record either this month or next month. You would have to come to Sacramento(obviously) but yeah, free recording if you're interested.

I've had Buster for almost three months now. It seems longer. I love waking up with him next to me. We just got our new cat, Panthro a few days ago, and he seems to be getting along fine with Buster. At first, Buster was the more aggressive one, but I notice that Panthro is becoming more aggressive, and Buster has become more timid. He doesn't purr as much anymore when I pet him or carry him. When they're not play fighting though, they sit and lay together which is awesome. We'll be taking them to the bay this weekend to meet Andrea's mom's cats.

Other than that, it's the same shit with me. Still can't sleep, still playing games, still on Facebook way too much. I'm considering starting a Twitter account. Gotta get with the times you know. Sacramento is still meh, but school is a welcome distraction. Anyway, thanks for reading. Again, I feel terrible for not writing in here as much as I should, but I know that few people read this, and I'm just writing this for me. I'm doing this podcast for me. I like doing it.

Anyone keeping up with porn stars? I'm looking for new ones and I don't know where to start.

Miami Horror - Sometimes

Sometimes from Miami Horror on Vimeo.

maybe top 20 song of this year?