dangerous candy

IMG_7077 [Flickr]

2009-07-13T04:56:49-07:00

popvulture posted a photo:

Roshanna, my mom, and me [Flickr]

2009-07-13T04:31:47-07:00

popvulture posted a photo:

Chris' Bday, July 2009 (and my mom's visit to LA) [Flickr]

2009-07-12T20:24:58-07:00

popvulture posted a photo:

Paula's glowing arm... [Flickr]

2009-07-12T20:24:27-07:00

popvulture posted a photo:

Chris' Bday, July 2009 (and my mom's visit to LA) [Flickr]

2009-07-12T20:24:02-07:00

popvulture posted a photo:

Opening Party David Lynch's Photo Exhibit

2009-06-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

Michael Kohn Gallery threw an opening party on May 29 for David Lynch's photo exhibit "Dark Night of the Soul." The line went way down Beverly Blvd. I heard more than one person in line (and walking by) comment, "When was the last time you saw such a long line at an art opening!?" But it was worth the wait. (We have all witnessed how gaga I get for David Lynch.)

Many of Lynch's photos on display in the Kohn Gallery (through July 11) elicit for me the same moods and feelings evoked in my favorite of his films. A weird disturbed nostalgia and the creepiness of dreams. That's how I felt about this shadowy BBQ by a too-perfect to be true Pacific Ocean. And this photo of woman giving the finger from the backseat of car reminded me of the teens who cause the fatal car accident in "Mulholland Drive." This hazy couple on the street at night reminded me of the cast of characters Laura Dern encounters on Hollywood Blvd in "Inland Empire."

The photo which most perfectly fits the theme "Dark Night of the Soul" is this photo of a dingy lamp and bedside table with a corner filled with an overflowing pile of prescription pill bottles. That to me, truly communicates the modern American's long, lonely, troubled, sleepless night -- trying to medicate to escape from the pain of old and new terrors.

It all reminds me of the quote from the final episode of Mad Men's first season "The Wheel," when Don Draper (in a mid-day meeting preceding his own "dark night of the soul") pitches his advertising colleagues and the client on a concept to sell Polaroid's "wheel" slide projector:

Nostalgia - it's delicate, but potent. Teddy told me that in Greek, "nostalgia" literally means "the pain from an old wound." It's a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn't a spaceship, it's a time machine. It goes backwards, and forwards... it takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It's not called the wheel, it's called the carousel. It let's us travel the way a child travels - around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know are loved.

I used to write a column for my college newspaper called "Nostalgia for the Present," and this quote has really stuck with me, and I think it also reminds me of what I like about David Lynch's movies, photos, and art.

Get Back to Where You Once Belonged

2009-05-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

I'm back in LA, after spending last week in NYC for some Yoostar press demos and meetings. Yoostar was written up in Forbes, Good Housekeeping, NY Daily News, and several other places. Follow our Yoostar twitter feed to stay up-to-date.

We've updated Yoostar.com with a new intro video and, and we updated the Roles page to show some of the movie clips you can act in with the Yoostar system.

Also, you may have noticed that this blog looks pretty different (and also that I'm posting to it after over two years of absence). While I was in NYC, my friend Lee pointed out that poprocks.com looked "so 1999." He was basically telling me that my online presence was wearing mom jeans. Ouch. I suppose, it's good to have friends who will be bluntly honest. It's like the time Andy told me that I needed an RSS feed for my blog, or the time JP told me I should not ever -- under any circumstances -- leave the house without wearing a bra. Funny, though, no one ever said there was anything wrong those times when I dyed my hair blue or apricot. I've seen the photos, and I'm surprised I didn't receive more critical feedback.

Who's on Top in 2006?

2006-12-04T22:55:00.000-08:00

The Yahoo! Top Searches of 2006 are now live, and I wrote a post for the corporate blog, Yodel Anecdotal discussing some of the most interesting top searches. Check it out.

I'm going to be on MSNBC's "The Most" with Alison Stewart again on Tuesday, Dec 5 at 12:15 PT / 3:15 ET to discuss the year's top searches. Fun, fun. Do tune in.

What do you think? Why has Britney been the #1 most-searched person on Yahoo! for 5 of the past 6 years? Are you the one searching for her?

Goodbye 'Portal Shortall'

2006-12-01T06:02:00.000-08:00

These past two weeks have been all over the place. I was up in Toronto to say goodbye to Greg Shortall (a.k.a. "portal Shortall") and to interview new editorial candidates for Yahoo!'s Canadian Broadband team. As Greg told the candidates we were interviewing to fill his vacated position, "Karaoke makes up about 18% of this job." How true! (Especially when I'm around.)

The day after I returned to LA we moved into our new house (more on this soon), and my mom flew out to visit us from Boston one day later, and the very next day we drove six hours to Prescott, Arizona to see Chris' family for Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun and a lot of craziness.

Elex Success

2006-11-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

Even though I've been awake and working for most of the last 48 hours, I'm definitely excited about the Elections results, AND I'm excited to point out that SearchEngineWatch just published a post titled "In the Elections Results Race, Yahoo!'s the Winner," saying that Yahoo!'s Election Day 2006 coverage was better than Google's, MSN's, and AOL's. They called out this interactive map that Chris built in the post. Considering this is pretty much one of the only positive pieces of press I've seen about Yahoo! vis a vis Google in the past year (see this Drift post "The Swift-Boating of Yahoo!" for more info), I'd say it was a smashing success.

See, just as I pointed out two years ago in my post and flickr photoset describing how the 2004 Presidential Elections as covered at Yahoo! there are benefits to having actual human journalists taking care to gather and present information, rather then computer algorithms choosing and presenting news -- especially about important, controversial, and complicated topics.

Turning Away from Jackson's Breasts for a Moment...

2006-11-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

For this Election Day, I turned my focus away from topics such as purses and Janet Jackson's breasts to something slightly more important -- and political -- for the Yahoo! Top 5 segment on ABC News NOW.

In today's special political video segment, I spoke about the Top 5 Political Blogs and the Top 5 Hot-Button Ballot issues. This wasn't my best segment. I was talking way too fast, and also my neck and chest broke out in a rash from the heat. (It was 92 degrees yesterday in Los Angeles when we taped this segment and there's no make-up person on-hand to save me from unsightly redness.) I'll try to look past my disturbing appearance, and take comfort in the fact that we got some more serious info out there.

Did YOU vote today? Why or why not? What's the big issue for you this election?

The Politics of Searching...

2006-11-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow's U.S. midterm elections look like they're gonna be close. Please go out and vote. And if you need to do any online research about the ballot measures in your state, check out the Buzz Log post I wrote about the hottest ballot issues, according to the searches people are doing on Yahoo!

What do YOU think is the most important issue this election?

Birtney and KFed Do Halloween 2006 in L.A.

2006-10-31T23:40:00.000-08:00

Chris and I dressed up as Britney and KFed this year. Check out this video showing how we decided what to wear.

We started Saturday night at the Halloween Vlog Fest party in honor of Amanda Congdon in the lobby of the Yahoo! Center in Santa Monica, and then we were headed to West Hollywood to a fabulous bash at Court's place. My two favorite costumes of the evening were Strawberry Shortcake (a.k.a. Sam of daily online video serial show Sam Has 7 Friends at the vlog party) and a seriously decked-out Marie Antoinette (in WeHo). Check out the photos.

Getting 'Sexy' for Halloween

2006-10-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, October 20, I went on MSNBC's "The Most" with Alison Stewart to talk about popular Halloween costume searches this year on Yahoo! If you play a drinking game and take a shot of tequila every time I said "sexy" during the 60 second interview, you might get sick. Pirate costumes are popular this year, particularly sexy pirates.

I'm not revealing what my costume is this year...yet. But from 1997-2004, I've been Aeon Flux, Cruella Deville, a vampire, a devil, a bumblebee, a bad pilgrim, legally blonde, and most recently, Jackie Kennedy.

A Very Pregnant Friend Sings 'Papa Don't Preach'

2006-10-20T05:42:00.000-07:00

My Yahoo Broadband team members converged on Santa Monica for our Editorial Summit, and we also celebrated Heather's soon-to-be-born little guy. How did we celebrate? With karaoke, of course. You really haven't lived until you've seen a very pregnant friend or co-worker sing Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach." It was perfect.

LJ sang a song by Donna Summer. Jim sang No Doubt's "Keep on Dancin.'" Dave O sang "(What's so Funny About) Peace, Love, and Understanding?' Greg sang Weezer's "Sweater Song." Dave C. sang a Creedance Clearwater Revival song. I did my usual Snoop Dogg. (Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of Eric's hardcore version of Pat Benatar, because the camera was out in the car at the beginning...) Check out the pictures.

I'm Very Knowledgeable About Purses and Janet Jackson's Breasts...

2006-10-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

People have been asking for a link to see the ABC News Yahoo! Top 5 video segment that Heather, LJ, and I appear on each week.
OK, you can have a peak, but only if you promise not to make fun of me for blushing when I talk about Chanel handbags and Janet Jackson getting all naked on magazine covers. Check out the video.

Is this what you all expected when I majored in American Culture at Vassar? That I'd build a career of knowing where to find knock-off Gucci bags online and what the story is behind Janet Jackson's "invisible daughter..." Yeah, I thought so, too.

The Elephant in the Living Room

2006-09-21T22:39:00.000-07:00

Graffiti artist and prankster, Banksy, (you know, the guy who famously and fantastically spoofed Paris Hilton's CD opened his first Los Angeles show on Friday, Sept 15 in a warehouse downtown Los Angeles. Chris and Chris and I popped over to take a peak. The elephant's presence was controversial. Check out this article.

The elephant was painted for the show's opening night, but most/all of the paint was washed off or worn off by Sunday when we stopped by the show. Someone outside had done some graffiti of their own outside in the alley that said "How much for the elephant?" poking fun at both the elephant's inclusion at the show and the fact that Banksy was selling prints of his graffiti for $90 and one canvass -- ironically this one "Sale Ends Today" -- for over $2000.

My favorite pieces were the stencil of the girl on the phone (ostensibly to Banksy himself) and she's saying "That's so cute the way you just drwa on stuff and think about yourself all the time." It really shows that he's not afraid to poke fun at himself and is willing to point his fierce criticisms at himself too. This "How's my bombing? Call 1-800-648-0403" sticker he had on the back of the truck was great too. Chris called the number, and it's a Navy recruiting office.

More Maria Sansone Than You Can Click a Mouse at...

2006-09-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

I do a weekly radio interview about Yahoo! Buzz on KMOX in St. Louis, Missouri with the hosts of the late night Two Johns No Waiting show.

One of the Johns (I believe it's John Carney) admitted to me that he has a mild crush on Maria Sansone who hosts Yahoo!s daily video show The 9.

Today at the office, my colleague Eric IM'd me the URL for a blog called What Is Maria Wearing. It's pretty funny. Almost every day from July 14 to August 31 the blog's writer posted screenshots of Maria's outfits along with snarky commentary.

If that's not enough Maria for you, you can check out her Flickr photos.

We Faced Our Fears at Burning Man 2006

2006-09-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

Chris was a Burning Man virgin this year. (Not me, My virgin burn was 1999 -- you can read my journal about it. I also went out to the desert in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005...) During our drive to Nevada, I asked him what he most feared about Burning Man.

"Seeing naked guys kinda freaks me out," he said.

"Oh, you mean dude-ity?" I said.

"Yeah, I guess."

We arrived on the playa at 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday after driving for over 13 hours (it's a much longer drive from Los Angeles, than from SF!) It was the middle of a dust storm, and we were freezing cold and tired and both had to pee.

It was very hard to find a space to camp. In the past, I had almost always camped with a group of friends in a theme camp with a reserved spot. We drove around for at least a half hour, being turned away from every spot, until we arrived at 4:30 and Hope.

We set up camp in the dust storm and it wasn't until much later that we viewed the theme camp directly across the street: called Our Lady of Schlongs: Meat Inspection camp.

Talk about Chris facing his fears!!!

Needless to say over the course of the week, they had a lot of visitors and we saw a lot of schlongs. They gave us the best bloody marys I have ever had. So spicy and delicious.

Check out all my photos from Burning Man 2006.

We're Going to Burning Man!

2006-08-25T06:13:00.000-07:00

Chris and I bought our Burning Man tickets last night off of Craigslist from a random guy in Venice who sold 'em to us for more than face value, so that he could "pay his rent." We waited a long time before buying 'em because we weren't sure Chris was going to get the time off from work so that we could go.

This is the 8th year I'll be going to Burning Man, and it's the 20th anniversary of the event. This year's ticket is gorgeously-designed, like last year's (photographed while driving through the desert to the event as a passenger in Derek's car).

The first year I went to Burning Man was 1999, and that year the tickets looked like any other normal Ticketmaster concert ticket. It also cost $65, while this year's tickets began at about $185. Here's what I wrote in my online journal on August 16, 1999 before I attended the event. And here's the diary I wrote about my experiences at Burning Man in 1999.

It's interesting to read what I was thinking about seven years ago, and to see photos of my friends and myself looking so much younger. I couldn't have imagined this future that I live in right now. In 1999 when I attended the event, I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I worked at a now non-existent company, Wildweb.com. Going to Burning Man in 1999 changed my life in so many ways. I decided to move to the West Coast a few weeks after returning to Boston and I left for good one month later. I met Owen at Burning Man in 1999, and we both ended up moving to San Francisco. I met Esther and Jason at Burning Man in 2001.

Owen, Esther, Jason, Andy, Jeff and Mindy won't be going to Burning Man this year due to work, school, world travel, and oher reasons. I'll miss them so much, but I'm still glad to be going to the desert. And I'm very glad that Chris has decided he wants to go. (He's never been before.) It'll be an adventure. We're doing an art project, similar to the one my friends, August, and I built last year (the psychiatric help booth). This year, we'd like to do something very similar (because a *lot* of people in Black Rock City seemed to want someone to talk to about their lives and problems and it was good to be able to help out), but we're thinking of calling it "Help with your past, present, and FUTURE" to fit the future theme.

There's an art installation this year called "Future You Post" by Betsy McCall and her description of the project is:

It looks like an everyday mailbox, with paper, envelopes, and pens available. But the intention here is that you write yourself a letter and it is delivered to you five years from now. The intention is for participants to write their hopes and fears, only to be surprised by them in the future. Especially for people whose off-playa lives are very different from their on-playa lives, the experience of receiving this letter from themselves in 2011 could prove extremely powerful.
I'm not sure what I will write to myself, but it will probably begin "Dear Jessica, I'm not sure how or where this letter will find you, but I hope you are still around and healthy in 2011, and I hope you are still enjoying life as much as you were in 2006. (But maybe not working quite as hard.) I hope your loved ones are still around you, and I can not imagine what you will have accomplished five years from now."

What do YOU think about the future? If you could write yourself a letter that you would receive five years from now, what would it say?

I Saw a Grown Woman Cry When Her Water Was Taken Away at LAX...

2006-08-11T06:16:00.000-07:00

I needed to fly up to San Jose from Los Angeles to attend some meetings at Yahoo!s main office up in Sunnyvale, and I had a very tight schedule and was worried about how the airport situation just hours after the announcement of the London terror plot would affect my trip. If I didn't make it through the security lines in time, I would risk missing my flight, and consequently miss all of the fairly important back-to-back meetings I had scheduled.

Also, I don't know about you, but it sort of just makes me a tiny bit nervous to get on a plane when I think about bombs going off inside planes filled with people. I tried not to think about that and instead worried about whether or not I would be able to get my toothpaste and deodorant through the security clearance. I only had one bag with me (an beautiful over-sized cream-colored Marc Jacobs purse that I use as my overnight bag and that certainly would not have survived being checked through underneath the plane), and I was going on an overnight business trip. I don't know about you, but deodorant and toothpaste rank pretty high on my list of overnight necessities for overnight trips.

At LAX haggared travelers were not sure about what they could and could not take onto the airplanes. There was a lot of confusion, because not everyone had had a chance to read the news yet and familiarize themselves with the list of things that were banned. At the security checkpoint, I removed my shoes and put my bag on the x-ray belt and held my breathe as I walked through the metal detector. Luckily, the screeners let my toothpaste and deodorant through. (I had a tiny travel-sized Crest toothpaste, and solid Secret deodorant, so these may have been deemed acceptable. It's hard to say. I didn't ask for clarification, because I didn't want to call attention to these contraband products, lest I risk them being taken away!)

Water and drinks were the #1 thing they were taking away from people at LAX. The grown woman in front of me in the security line was brought to tears when her brand new bottle of sparkling Calistoga water was grabbed and pulled out of her bag. "But I just bought this in the airport!" she demanded to the security screener guy. The guy told her that that didn't matter. "You can't take any liquids through to the gates," he said. He told her she had to give it to them. She started to cry, "But can I just have a sip first, please, before you take it away?" People were stressed and it was making everyone thirsty. (It's very dry and warm in Los Angeles, and this adds to the thirsty-factor.)

When we landed in San Jose (a much smaller airport in Northern California at the bottom of Silicon Valley), I noticed bins filled with banned items taken away from passengers. I snapped a photo of this one with my cameraphone. At San Jose airport, they were taking away deodorant and toothpaste, in addition to water and beverages. Also, I thought it was interesting that they were taking away chapstick too! I felt so thankful that they didn't take away my lipstick and moisturizer. It's very very dry in California, and it's not recommended to give a presentation with dry skin and chapped lips.

Does the foiled London terror plot make you more afraid to fly? Or does it make you more confident about flying? Also, how do you feel about the increase security checks and increased list of banned items to take on planes? Have you had anything weird taken away from you before boarding a plane?

Pam Anderson is Actually Very Pretty

2006-07-28T05:56:00.000-07:00

At the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix in Monterey last weekend, Chris and I ended up standing 5 feet away from Pamela Anderson as she walked out of the pitts area and climbed into a car. Always quick on the draw, Chris captured 2 excellent photos of the soon-to-be Mrs. Kid Rock.

Two things that surprised me about Pam Anderson:
1. She was truly wicked freakin hot. I was expecting her to look overly made up and tacky, kind of like Anna Nicole Smith. But here's the deal -- she's a really cute gal. She was wearing very little make up and a cute, simple black tank top. Even her chest didn't look ridiculously huge.

2. She was with a guy I didn't recognize, and the mystery guy was definitely not Kid Rock. It's not that big of a deal -- because I'm sure she has tons of male friends -- but I'm just wondering if anyone recognizes the guy. Take a look at the photo, and let me know who you think he is.

Shortly after seeing Pam, we saw Italian male model Fabio Lanzoni, known to most of the world as just... Fabio. Just as you might imagine, he's very tan and his long-hair was flowing in the breeze. This photo I took of Fabio and some "umbrella girls" is just like the cover of a romance novel. Or, errr, something...

But, what man can resist hanging out with umbrella girls?

Celebs, "Umbrella Girls," and Hot Motorcycle Riders

2006-07-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

At E3 they have "booth babes." At MotoGP, they have "umbrella girls." Umbrella girls dress in revealing skin-tight outfits and carry color-coordinated umbrellas advertising their team's name. Part of their job is to hold up the umbrellas to keep their team's riders out of the sun when they're waiting on the grid. Another part of their job is to promote their team and brands. Guys line up to get their pictures taken with the umbrella girls (as Chris aptly demonstrates). These women were all very sweet and charming when I spoke with them -- much more pleasant than I would be if I was wearing spiked heels or platform moonboots for hours on the baking hot asphalt.

Of all the female fans at Laguna Seca -- and it surprised me that the crowd seemed to be comprised of about 45% women -- most wore sensible footwear: sandals and sneakers. Hardly anyone chose high heels for hoofing around the huge track and paddock area. I kept wondering how the umbrella girls managed it all day long. In retrospect I'm surprised I didn't ask them to reveal their secrets.

Monterey, California is generally mild temperature-wise, even in summertime. But this July, all of California was caught in the midst of an intense heatwave, and it was unbelievably hot, especially under direct sun on the blacktop of the paddock. There was hardly any shade for fans to escape to (except inside the Red Bull tent). I was wearing flip-flops, a short skirt, and a t-shirt and I was about to faint from the heat. The Laguna Seca announcer kept coming over the PA reminding everyone to drink plenty of water. At $4.00 per bottle for Dasani (which isn't even real spring water) -- you could see why some people needed encouragement. At those prices, I was drinking $16-$20 worth of water per day. Thankfully, we had access to free water in the Media tent -- I'm a frugal person, and I might've risked dehydration just to save $10.

By Sunday, many of the vendors in the "International food court" of the paddock had run out of bottled water. They posted hand-written signs to tell potential customers "Sorry -- Out of Water." No one seemed to expect it would be this hot. In the women's bathroom, gals ran cold water from the sinks over bandannas and tied them around their necks. Others jumped into the showers with their clothes on.

I wondered how the riders handled being out in the track wearing full leather outfits, helmets, and mesh long johns underneath for 32 laps. It seemed impossible and unbearable. During Saturday's post-qualifier press conference, the riders told us that the track is literally melting in the heat and breaking up in places, making the heat even more challenging to them. When the riders left the pitts area, they would immediately begin peeling off their leather outfits and hang them outside their trailers (or, their girlfriends hung their outfits on the metal stairs outside the trailers as we saw Cardoso's gorgeous Dolce & Gabbana bedecked lady friend do). We noticed some Japanese female fans getting their photos taken with their arms around Nakano's leathers, so I followed suit, pun intended.

Speaking of female motorcycle fans -- we saw Pamela Anderson walking out of the pitts area on Sunday afternoon. She looked great in a black tanktop with her MotoGP VIP laminate passes around her neck. She wasn't with Kid Rock when we saw her and we didn't recognize the guy she was with -- do you?

Pam wasn't the only celeb hanging out at Laguna Seca. We also saw semi-celebs Ian Zierring (of "90210" fame) Matt LeBlanc (from "Friends") and Italian male model Fabio Lanzoni, known to most of the world, of course, as simply "Fabio." Fabio may have been my favorite sighting of the weekend. Just as you might imagine, he's very tan and his long-hair was flowing in the breeze. When we saw him on Sunday he was wearing a bright lavendar shirt and pin-striped jeans. He was standing next to two umbrella girls from the Kawasaki racing team wearing very short shorts. It could've been the cover of a romance novel. Or maybe not.

Check out my Flickr photoset from the event.

With all these umbrella girls, celebs, and hot motorcycle riders (as well as their hot girlfriends) roaming around and American rider Nicky Hayden winning MotoGP at Laguna Seca for the 2nd year in a row -- I'm still surprised MotoGP isn't more popular with the American audience (yet). Maybe if Hayden becomes the next world champion -- Americans will start to take notice. What do you think?

Why MotoGP Is Not as Popular in the U.S. as it is in Europe?

2006-07-22T13:23:00.000-07:00

MotoGP may not be as well-known in the U.S. as it is in Europe and other parts of the world, but you wouldn't know it if you had seen the crowds at Laguna Seca waiting on the hot asphalt in the relentless sun to catch a glimpse of their favorite riders coming out of the pit. The fans clamored to get the riders to sign posters, hats, shirts and to snap photos with them. Four-time MotoGP world champion Italian Camel Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi seemed to have the biggest fan-base, with folks wearing shirts and hats in his trademark yellow and black. American Repsol Honda Nicky Hayden may have a chance at winning MotoGP this year, and there are plenty of people wearing his "star-69" logo as well.

Hands gripped Sharpie pens and reached through the fence, as fans pushed for autographs from American Camel Yamaha rider Colin Edwards and screamed for t-shirts that Colin shot into the crowd from a pressurized air gun as he stood atop the stairs to his trailer. Fans were jumping to grab the shirts and pushing and elbowing each other. It was crazy. I was glad that there was a chain link fence between us and the crowd. I didn't want to be caught in the melee.

We were also lucky to have a small sliver of shade to stand in if we stayed close to the riding team's trailers. Even with big hats and wet bandannas tied around their necks -- I didn't know how those folks in the crowd were doing it. Even standing in the shade of the riding team's trailers, I became lightheaded that I almost fainted. Or maybe it was standing so close to Valentino Rossi that almost made me faint...
This morning on Yahoo! Answers, I posted a question that I've been also asking all of the folks here at Laguna Seca, Why is MotoGP huge in Europe but not as popular in the U.S.? I was wondering why NASCAR is so hugely popular in America, while MotoGP and Formula One racing don't have quite the dedicated fan-base. racing.

I've received some interesting responses so far from the fans at Laguna Sec. The most common reasons people mentioned are:
There's no live network TV video coverage of MotoGP. (MotoGP is only televised on the Speed network in the U.S. NASCAR, in comparison, is televised all over.)
Motorcycles are more popular means of transportation in Europe and Asia than they are in the United States. People in Europe grow up around motorcyles and ride them more so they are more interested in them, in general.

As for other motor sports -- although Formula One is held in high esteem throughout the rest of the world, NASCAR is much more popular in America. I followed up my initial question about MotoGP by asking people why NASCAR is more popular than Formula One racing in the U.S. Some folks mentioned that American audiences enjoy watching the cars rub and bump each other on the NASCAR track. Others said it's because Americans can relate to NASCAR better since the cars are stock cars made by Chevy and Ford, similar to the cars most Americans are driving themselves. Exotic Formula One cars are more expensive and less familiar to people, less like the cars the average Americans actually drive.

This made me think that Americans may be less familiar with sport bikes than they are with chopper-type bikes. Think about it. Choppers and hogs have been hugely popular American icons for over 50 years. Counterculture motorcycle gangs, the Hells' Angels, and 1969's 'Easy Rider' paved the way for today's TV shows like Discovery channel reality TV show 'American Chopper' and the Speed channel's show "V-Twin." Choppers and hogs continue to be a symbol of outlaw cool in American culture. From high school rebel James Hurley on David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" to high school rebel Jason Dean "JD" (played by Christian Slater) in 1989's 'Heathers' to boxer Butch Coolidge (played by Bruce Willis) in 1994's 'Pulp Fiction' -- "cool guys" in popular American TV and films drive choppers and hogs. (Chris pointed out that there are a few exceptions where sports bikes are represented as the cool guy's ride in popular films: in 1986's "Top Gun" Maverick (played by Tom Cruise) rides a Kawasaki Ninja and in 2004's futuristic 'I Robot' Will Smith's character rides an MV Augusta.

Aside from the pop culture cool element, it also strikes me that Harleys and other choppers are American-made, and that, no doubt, plays a part in why most Americans think of them when they picture a motorcycle. Not one of the top racing bikes represented in MotoGP is made in America. Ducati is made in Italy. Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki are all made in Japan.

Although the MotoGP bikes aren't American, there are still some great American MotoGP riders: Nicky Hayden (who won MotoGP at Laguna Seca in 2005), Colin Edwards, Kenny Roberts Jr, and John Hopkins.

A British guy also told me, "The reason MotoGP isn't so popular in the U.S. is, Americans like sports where Americans win." It's true that there hasn't been an American rider to win a World Championship yet (Italian Valentino Rossi won the World Championship of MotoGP for the past 4 years), but American Nicky Hayden has the current lead in points, and has a strong chance of taking the World Championship this year. If Nicky Hayden wins the World Championship it could certainly increase Americans awareness of, and enthusiasm for, this sport.

Faster Than Photographs

2006-07-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

The GP bikes are louder than I thought. When they're coming out of a turn and accelerating -- it sounds like a giant ultra-amplified lawnmower.

We brought several pairs of ear plugs with us, and I put mine in as we walked toward the edge of the track. I squeezed the foam tight and pressed one into each ear. As the foam expanded, it shut out the sound completely, and i could no longer hear Chris.

We approached the fence at the side of the track between turn 3 and turn 4, and began trying to take photos as the riders roared around the track during the second round of practice laps for the GP bikes. Chris had his Canon 20D and I was shooting with the Canon SuperShot Digital Elph. I just picked up the camera and tried to shoot. I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to capture the bikers in the shots.

Out of 22 photos, I got one semi-blurred photo of one of the Yamaha riders (I'm not sure which one because I can't make out the number) and one kind of cool blurred photo of American Nicky Hayden who rides for Repsol Honda.

The rest of the shots are pretty much like this one and this one -- and don't contain any motorcycles at all! It was pretty frustrating. I tried everything I could think of to time my shots just right, and it still wasn't working out. How do you like this one where I just caught the back tire of one of the bikes? At 200 miles per hour, the bikes are moving faster than the shutter speed on the camera. It kind of shocked me. I thought digital cameras could capture anything.

Thankfully, Chris' camera's faster shutter speed and telephoto lens gave him much better results. Check out the photos. (I like this one of Chris Vermeulen -- it looks like his tires are barely touching the track's surface. Still, Chris admitted that he deleted approximately 20% of his track photos also contained no motorcyle. These guys are faster than photographs, and that's starting to put it all into perspective for me.

I Feel the Need, the Need for Speeeeeeed!

2006-07-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

When I'm not blogging here on poprocks.com -- you can rest assured that I'm busy blogging somewhere else, probably for work reasons. This blogging machine never stops.

Other places to find me, when you need your fix:

Along with the ever-lovely Ms. Heather Moylan, I'm writing the AT&T Yahoo! Broadband Editors' Blog, asking the users what they think about such topics as skinny celebs, male infidelity, and the Middle East conflict. We also ask the users to shoot and submit their own cell phone videos of themselves speaking on these topics. Then on Fridays we read the web comments and show the video clips on-air on Seen and Heard, a new interactive video show show on ABC News NOW (ABC's 24/7 online news channel). We're collaborating with the ABC folks on the show, and we get to talk about what Yahoo! users are saying and what they're searching for each week. It's a really interesting interactive media experiment, and I encourage you to check it out. We also use the AT&T Yahoo blog to highlight the users' best Flickr photos. It's been a cool project. It's exciting to me that the technology finally allows us to pull off interactive user content like this much more easily. The fact that all the users are on a fast broadband connection doesn't hurt either!

Something else I'm blogging about that goes very fast: motorcycles! Those who have read my site for a long time know that I'm always curious about new things. In that vein, along with the fabulous Chris Strimbu, I'm writing the MotoGP blog from Laguna Seca in Monterey. MotoGP is motorcycle Grand Prix and it's something that's been really huge in Europe for years, but is only in its second year in the U.S. -- so most Americans aren't hugely familiar with it. The motorcylists ride on a curvy track at speeds of more than 200 miles-per-hour. It's pretty incredible. And loud! Right now, we're in the media tent working on the blog. Later today, we'll upload some awesome photos and interview the riders.

Since I'm on the topic of fast stuff, I ask you, dear readers, to tell me about the fastest you've ever gone?

You Can Lead a Whore to Vassar...

2006-06-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

"You can lead a whore to Vassar, but you can't make her think."
-Frederick B. Artz, noted medieval historian

For some inexplicable reason, we went back to Poughkeepsie, New York to celebrate the Vassar Class of 1996 10-year reunion. Thankfully, there was a lot of drinking. You can look at the pictures.

It struck me that ten years is somehow both a very long and a very short amount of time. And I'm not the only person who had profound thoughts. In one of the bathroom stalls in Josselyn dorm, one of my classmates scrawled in black Sharpie marker: "I love Vassar, but my girlfriend won't." Ah, the coed college bathrooms of my youth. Being back at Vassar, I realized it was probably the only place where Chris, Mindy, Erik, and I could all pee standing/sitting alongside each other. Ah, co-education is a beautiful thing, despite what one of the women from the (female only) class of 1946 exclaimed loudly at my classmates. Little did she know that by far the most popular party during my time at Vassar was the annual Homo Hop.

The other Vassar 10th reunion take-away I will share is that those tiny twin-sized dorm beds with plastic mattresses are completely uncomfortable and I have no idea how we ever slept in them. Nevermind, with more than one person in a bed. Which reminds me...

"If all the girls at Vassar were laid end to end...
I wouldn't be at all surprised."
- Dorothy Parker

As I said, you can look at the pictures. Nothing too risque this time. The five-year reunion was a bit more lively. Does this mean we're *gasp* getting old?

Have you been ever been to your high school or college reunion? If so what did you think?

Relax. Look into the Camera and Smile.

2006-06-01T23:15:00.001-07:00

ABC News NOW Yahoo! Buzz commentary
Originally uploaded by popvulture.

I think I've mentioned the weekly radio interviews I've been doing for the Yahoo! Buzz team to discuss what's popular based on the searches people are conducting on Yahoo!. The interviews are usually pretty fun. Some of my favorite radio shows of the past 2 weeks are The John Carney Show on KMOX-AM in St. Louis and The Morning Buzz on WHEB-FM in Manchester. We talk about everything from Florence Henderson to 3-armed babies. It's a blast, except sometimes waking up at 4 or 5 a.m. is a bit rough.

And now we've added video to the repertoire. Heather and I worked with the awesome folks at ABC News NOW to pitch a weekly online video interview about the top Yahoo! searches. It's happening every Friday, and it's cool stuff. You should check it out.

As if that wasn't enough, last Monday I ended up on MSNBC's "The Most" being interviewed by Alison Stewart about the summer's hottest concert tours as decided by the searches being condcted on Yahoo!.

They had a professional at the station to put on my make-up.

"How do you like to have your make-up done?" she asked me.

"I don't know. What do people usually ask for?" I said, perplexed. My idea of applying make-up is a tube of bright red lipstick, and I realize that might be a bit too dramatic and high contrast for an on-camera interview about internet searches.

"They usally say anything from 'natural' to 'glamorous.'"

"Hmmm. Can I stay more to the natural side..." I said. "but maybe slightly glamorous?" I figured I might as well see what magic she could work. I was trying to watch what she was doing so I could learn some make-up tricks.

"You look like an actress, but I can't think of her name."

"Who?" No one's ever told me I look like anyone.

"I'll think of it..... Marcia Cross from 'Desperate Housewives.' She has such great skin."

"Hmmm." I said, wondering if this meant I also had great skin, but thinking it was probably just the red hair.

Fifteen minutes later she was finished. The faux eyelashes were very glam, but I kept worrying they'd fall off when I blinked.

Being interviewed for TV from a remote studio is pretty weird. You have an ear piece in your ear, and a microphone clipped to your shirt, and you usually don't see the host/journalist who is interviewing you. Instead of seeing their face, you hear their voice in your ear and you look into a big TV camera as if you are talking to another person. You smile, but it's hard to know if the other person is smiling back. The camera lens is dark and blank. I sometimes wonder if I'm keeping my shoulders back and my hair out of my eyes or if I have something caught in my teeth.

Talking to the radio DJs I can wear my pajamas and sprawl out with my laptop on the couch or the floor. It's nice not to hafta worry about the faux eyelashes or if I look weird when I'm laughing.

Haunted House

2006-04-10T00:24:00.000-07:00

This is no lie. Chris and I are staying in a haunted house, and we can't sleep.

We're in Calistoga at a Bed & Breakfast called The Elms. We drove up from Monterey (where we attended Chris Barton's wedding yesterday) and we didn't arrive until 6:45 p.m.

We pulled up and parked in front of the large white Victorian, walked through the iron gate and approached the front door. There was a white envelope taped to the door that said "Strimbu party." We plucked it off. It contained 2 keys, and a note that said our room was on the 3rd floor. It also had a phone number to call "in case of emergency." Check in time for the Inn is between 4-6p.m. and there's complimentary wine and cheese. We had missed that, and apparently the owners weren't around.

It's a huge house with about 7 bedrooms, but the hotel manager told us that only one other room was to be occupied. It was incredibly quiet inside the hotel, and doors to all the unoccupied rooms were open so we peaked into a few of them.

Up on the top floor in our room, the weathered books on the book shelf included a box set of The Chronic(wah)les of Narnia, Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses, and California Hauntspitality: A Ghostly Guide to Haunted Inns, Restaurants, and Taverns. Of course, I picked this one up, and immediately thumbed to the page for Calistoga. And of course, there was the name of our hotel, the only haunted place listed for Calistoga, California.

"Oh my god!" I said, handing the book to Chris before reading the entry, in an attempt to avoid freaking myself out.

"Don't tell me this place is in that book," he said, and immediately started reading the page I had open. "Wow."

"Should I read it?" I asked.

"I don't know if you want to see it," he said.

Of course, I had to read it. And now I can't sleep.

Here's what it said:

History:The house was built in 1871 by A.C. Pallmer, who was the first circuit judge in the area. He and his bride went to Europe on their honeymoon. While in France, they picked up the seedlings to the French Elm trees, then came home and built the French style Victorian. The Elm trees are now the tallest and oldest elms in the Napa Valley. There were originally eight "great" Victorian houses built in Calistoga; The Elms is the last one standing today.

Spirits: The owners assume that a couple of their spirits are A.C. Palmer and his wife... There is a room on the third floor called "Blithe Spirit," and since the owner has been there, she has always felt like someone or something is in the room. One day, one of the maids was vacuuming that room, and the vacuum turned off. The maid walked over to chack the plug, and the vacuum turned back on. This happened three times. La Chambre, which was the original master bedroom, has had two incidents occur since 2001. One night there were guests sleeping in there and the overhead light came on by itself. One of the owners was sleeping in there in November 2001, and the same thing happened to her. Again in mid-November 2001, one of the owners of the house was alone on the third floor. As she came down the stairs, she could hear running water, She proceeded to walk into La Chambre, and the faucet in the sink was turned on. No one had stayed in that room for two days."

After reading that passage, we just had to look around inside "Blithe Spirit," the empty room that was our nextdoor neighbor on the top floor. It was similar to ours with a different color scheme (blue walls, red bed) and a larger bathroom. On our way downstairs to leave for dinner around 8:30 p.m. we had to look around inside La Chambre, which had its light on. It is a beautiful room with hardwood floors and a giant wooden mirror. The bathroom is gorgeous and spacious, with a claw foot tub. We climbed down the long windy staircase and there was old fashioned music playing downstairs in the empty parlor on the first floor. "Was that on when we arrived?" I asked.

"Yes, I think so," he said.

"I wonder if it stays on all night."

Who Crashed This Ferrari Enzo on the PCH at 162 mph?

2006-03-03T06:54:00.000-08:00

Since I've moved to Los Angeles (Venice, actually) 5 months ago, I've seen a lot of crazy things, but this might take the cake.

On February 21, someone crashed this rare (only 400 made, valued at $1 million) Ferrari Enzo on the PCH up in Malibu driving at 162 miles per hour(!) And the guy who owned the car walked away from the crash with just a bloody lip.

It's a huge mystery that the LA Times has been investigating and people have been searching for photos and info for over the past few days on Yahoo!