the awesome/terrifying freedom

honestly, where paris is concerned, nothing will ever, ever beat emily's commando in action paris for men. but that didn't stop me from trying. i combed that city up and down looking for that horrible je ne sais quois. friends were bringing me tacky shit left and right, but i turned it all away. no, the perfect tacky gift has to work on multiple levels. it has to say something both about the character of the city, and the character of the tourists they hope to sucker into buying their crap. like finding clothes that fit at filene's basement, it takes perseverance.

which brings us to my paris entry in the international competition. behold. relive the glory of aristocratic france.









previous tackiest gifts in the world:
las vegas stripper bottle opener
commando in action paris for men
the horny hillbilly
airbrushed overalls w/ baby white tiger tshirt

here's the problem with 'vote you off' reality shows, specifically, project runway.

the truly innovative contestants get voted off because they're willing to take risks, and those risks aren't always going to pan out. so you may be a genius, but part of what makes you that genius is that you allow yourself to be truly horrible sometimes. and so we usually come to a finale that is between the 2 or 3 contestants that were able to hide in the background the longest.

i'd love to see a show that votes out the middle, and keeps the top and bottom scores. imagine the risks it would encourage people to make, the audacity it would inspire!

laura asked me if i had a top ten list for '07.. i've never really done it before because i've rarely felt like i've seen enough films. but i figured i should go through and look at all the 07' films i saw, and see how they stack up. so here's all the major released films and my star rating (out of 5) to go with it:

5 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 days
5 The Lives Of Others (technically '06, but wide released last year)
5 Ratatouille
5 No Country For Old Men
5 There Will Be Blood
4.5 Zodiac
4 The Host
4 Grindhouse
4 Hairspray
4 The Bourne Ultimatum
4 Atonement
3.5 300
3.5 Journey From The Fall
3.5 Knocked Up
3.5 3:10 To Yuma
3.5 Juno
3.5 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
3 Breach
3 Waitress
3 Ocean's Thirteen
3 The Method (El Método)
3 Stardust
3 Across The Universe
3 Beowulf
3 Enchanted
3 I Am Legend
3 The Kite Runner
2.5 Reno 911!: Miami
2.5 Blades Of Glory
2.5 Spider-man 3
2.5 Day Watch (Dnevnoi Dozor)
2.5 Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
2.5 Lions For Lambs
2 The Good German
2 The Astronaut Farmer
2 Disturbia
2 Shrek The Third
2 Pirates Of The Caribbean: At Worlds End
2 Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer
2 Transformers

here. and by association, here.