Squeeeeeeeee!

Beauty squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 23:10:00 +0000

Remember the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Remember the bit about Windex being the miracle cure for any and everything that wasn't nailed down?

Smith's Rosebud Salve is the "Windex" of 2007, except way safer, is not advised to clean windows, and has 115 years worth of history.

This is the one thing in your bag that you'll use more than your cell phone.

Chapped lips? Dry hands? Damaged cuticles? Bug bites? Blemishes?

I've tried to fix those with my Treo, and it's helped me only to complain about it to someone.

The best part? It's only $6 bucks, smells great, and will last you months.

Get yours here.

Ambiguous squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 18:50:00 +0000

I'm still up in the air over this one:

http://www.lala.com/

I can't tell if it's squee or suck.

Isn't this the pseudo-premise of eBay, but with no import singles from Germany?

You decide.

Squee even I do not understand.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 20:54:00 +0000

I thought I knew everything there was to squee over, but apparently my radar is off when it comes to the way young demo. (I can only be "so" awesome, people.)

2007, meet the revamped squeeworthy item of 1996: Webkinz.

Remember the "Nano Kitty" and "Tamagotchi" virtual pet craze circa 1996? Oh, right. You're 12. Dag.

Well, back in the early days of your existence, there was the Webkinz equivalent. Instead of living on the web, it lived in your pocket or keychain.

Created as a solution to the pervasive problem facing those marketers, kids like you would bring them to school and not pay attention in class. They'd feed their virtual pet instead, or get into fights with other students over "accidentally" killing it. (I still maintain my innocence, no matter what PETA says!)

Previously, the general operating principle for this scenario was: Feed and play with your virtual pet or the thing DIES and you have just wasted months of your life for nothing. Start over.

The rules have changed!

1. Once you adopt the Webkinz of your choice, and register it online, you can play with your pet much as you like, but only for a year.

I guess that means you shouldn't get too emotionally attached?

2. During your year or mother/fatherhood, you get rewarded by taking care of the Webkinz, and receive "Kinzcash" to buy items at the "W shop." (i.e. Food, clothing, toys, furniture, etc.) You can also earn cash by playing games and in contests!

3. Adopt 'til you drop! You can collect as many pets as you want, and each pet scores you a new "room" and 2,000 Kinzcash bucks to spoil your pet even more than you already have.

4. Last, but not least, they incorporate a Buddy List feature into the mix, called "Kinzchat." You can invite your friends to check out your pet and your rooms when they're online. Hopefully you didn't adopt the same pet, or that would be kinda...awkward.

The chat feature, although cool, is pretty limited for safety purposes. You create responses; you have to pick responses from different columns:

Column A
I AM
YOU ARE
WE ARE

Column B
COOL!
AWESOME!
NICE!

...or something.

Smelly squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 20:39:00 +0000

Cruising around sephora.com, I spotted this new item - $300 perfume from Juicy Couture.

Still dizzy from the residual sticker shock, I naturally assumed that this price had to come with an explanation. Clearly something about it had to warrant that hefty price tag. Or...not.

Lots of designers make perfume. Vera Wang. Calvin Klein. Dior. But none of them charge anything close to that amount of ridiculousness. Not it.

It's not a life-sized bottle of perfume. In fact, it's 1 ounce. Not it again.

It's made out of some exotic plant! Yes. That must be it. The "Last of the Mohicans" of a rare flower, exported from a country on the verge of total plant life devastation. I've finally solved it. Really not it.

To the contrary, the explanation is this:

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there were two nice girls named Pam and Gela who discovered the Juicy Couture world of fashion, and fun, fun, fun. They took a deep breath and realized this is how The Juicy Girls smell the world! - Juicy Couture

I don't know about you, but it's gonna take a lot more than a lame story about two chicks finding fun, not once, but three times in a row and suddenly feel the insatiable need to encapsulate the moment in a scent...that costs three monthly installments of a car insurance bill.

Just because something's expensive and made by a designer does not mean it's squeeworthy. It just means it's not-so-affordable.

If you happen to think "fun cubed" smells that hot, by all means, go for it. If you're not impressed, don't waste your hard earned loot.

First squee!

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 21:05:00 +0000

2007 will surely bring us more squee than can be swallowed, so let's kick off the first squeeworthy moment of the year with my new favorite site.

We love YouTube. There's not a person out there that isn't fond of the slacking off at work and school possibilities it brings.

One can literally sit and waste an entire day by searching for various keywords...including ones that just don't make any darn sense, yet still are represented on the web. (Some are more successful than others, mind you.)

Need to find that old En Vogue video you haven't seen since 1995? Got it. Need to find that annoying Volkswagen commercial with the annoying song? Got it. Need the latest SNL episode? ...Don't got it.

Since Google, which er, owns Blogger, so I better mind my Ps and Qs, merged with YouTube, the climate of the site changed. People started caring about pesky little copyrights and ownership semantics. It was almost like the new Napster debate or something. However, let's all remember that we're dealing with viral STREAMING content. I can't save it to my desktop, old people. It's just helping you promote your stuff, so get over it.

In the spirit of...well, just not giving a crap, dailymotion.com works like YouTube, except with way more bizarre German videos of people in ill-fitting pants and full streaming episodes of your favorite TV shows. Yeah. The full 45 minutes. No 10-minute content caps!

Videos you can't normally locate on the web, you can find here, which is equally reminiscent of Napster's catalog back their prime.

So, give it a whirl, but be quick about it. Won't be around for long until THE MAN shuts it down!

The opposite of squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 21:06:00 +0000

I have a tough time explaining the concept of "What is squee" unless I supply an analogy or provide a descriptive scenario involving actual squeeing. (I'm starting to believe that people do this solely for their own amusement and nothing else.)

To help further establish the depth and breadth of squee, I present you "The Opposite of Squee."

Take this article in Yahoo! News: Nintendo investigating Wii strap problem

Ah-hem:
[Nintendo] said . . . it is investigating reports of problems with a strap that secures the machines' wandlike remote-controller to the player's wrist.

My first thought? Wow. I hope there's nothing wrong with it so I can keep playing. That would majorly suck.

I kept reading.

At least two Web sites have been set up to collect photos that purportedly show damage — such as broken glass and TVs — resulting from the strap coming off players as they swung around the controller, at times causing the remote to fly out of their hands.

My new thought: Do you need schooling how to not be a spazoid freak? I think yes.

Wii is a game. It's fictional. You are not actually playing a sport. It is a mere mimicry of the event. LET'S ALL REMEMBER THAT. No doubt you were one of those people who jumped with Mario when you hopped atop mushrooms or drainpipes, too.

Hey, I've played. I didn't even use the strap, and did I break anything? No, cause I'm still alive. If I were dead, at my brother's hand, you'd know I threw the remote, launching it into a TV set or something equally expensive.

One of these such sites filled with remote-throwing morons is http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/ (Ah, URL puns.)

"I have a 27 inch normal tv in my room. So on wensday after launch I asked my mom if i could use it on the 40 inch projection HDTV. She was like ok what ever. So i was playing tennis and the wiimote flew out of my hand with the wrist strap (yes i was wearing it and it flew off with the wiimote) and flew into the screen." - wiihaveaproblem.com

Did you ever see Andy Roddick throwing his tennis racket across the court in wild abandon during his return? No! (Okay, so maybe if you watched John McEnroe play, but the guy's got documented anger issues.)

Take the time and energy you kids are throwing (pun very intended) into this crazy remote-launching and dump it into things like spelling, proper capitalization of days of the week, and other worthwhile causes.

Dumb: The opposite of squee.

Awesome squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:41:00 +0000

I haven't played Nintendo religiously since NES, but I have found a new reason to willingly reunite with the pains of "Nintendo thumb," and it's called Wii.

My brother has a problem, and it's called, "Buying every video game and console ever made." If he was old enough, I'm sure he would have been an early proponent of Atari. Through him, I've managed to sort of stay in touch with the latest video game nonsense, and sometimes* be cool enough to play a game or two.

Call it the hospitality of Thanksgiving, call it a momentary lack of sanity, but he recently purchased Wii and let me play.

Can I just tell you now that it is THE singlemost amazing thing of 2006, other than Timberlake locating and returning "sexy?" (Okay, fine. And Britney dumping K-Fed.)

Incase you've been living under a rock, or actually have a life, Wii oozes uber-coolness because of its wireless controller (that kinda, sorta looks like a sleek TV remote) that detects motions of the player.

Remember the old track games on NES? You had to run and jump on that ghetto version of a Dance Dance Revolution Pad? This smacks that in the face.

When you're playing a game like Wii Sports, you're actually going through the motions of playing the game in real life. You're throwing punches to get the TKO. You're swinging a baseball bat or the tennis racket to hit the ball. You're reaching out your arm to get that turkey in bowling.

Call me pathetic, dumb, or seriously challenged in the upper-body strength department, but I somehow managed to feel as if I went through sports bootcamp after a few hours of playing. ...For two days.

It made me wonder if Nintendo thought they were actually trying to motivate gamers to be active, and perhaps I'm not too far off considering there's a fitness test to monitor one's activities over time.

Yeah, I tried the fitness test. Yeah, it said I had the athleticism of a 58-year-old man, but I was robbed! How is not getting a strike and not being allowed to pick up the spare in bowling a sign of physical weakness? I protest.

And when I say I played, I really mean "I" did. Mii. On the "Mii Channel," every Wii user gets to create their own player to be designed in his or her very own likeness. These "characters" can interact on message boards and private messaging through Wii's wireless Internet capabilities.

I don't think I can handle the awesomeness.

What I really won't be able to deal with is the ability to play Sega Genesis games like Toe Jam & Earl.

Funkotron, here I come!

*Every five years.

Random squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 18:28:00 +0000

Random things excite me, and having public bathrooms complete with flat-screen TVs, a fireplace, a mini-dance floor certainly fits. Oh, and did I mention it's in Times Square? Even better!

The crossroads of New York City straphangers and hoards of international travelers will now have a place to "go." An estimated 300,000 flushes are anticipated through the holiday season. (I have no idea what that means in terms of people, but I'm sure there's some mathematical explanation.)

Why is this squeeworthy? Well, it's certainly not because it's a bathroom.

I'm sure lots of people have been finding ways to go about their business (wow, I'm doing really well with this bathroom pun thing!) before the arrival of these pimped out restrooms, but the fact that someone thought to do something so extravagant, and not just install a bunch of sketchy Porta-Potties under the guise of a marketing ploy for bathroom tissue is pretty cool.

I do think it's missing a karaoke machine and a roller rink, but perhaps this will open doors for new concepts in big cities. Like...giant ball pits. Or...a ginormous free lemonade stand.

If you think of something better, let us know.

Musical squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 17:21:00 +0000

Instead of complaining about lame ringtones, I guess I should be recommending squeeworthy ones instead.

Accordingly, I give you THE HOTNESS:

Cingular Wireless

"White & Nerdy" by Weird Al Yankovic

What This Ringtone Says About You:

"Yes, fellow mass transit riders. I'd be riding a Segway instead if it fit inside this subway car."

"Smack That" by Akon, featuring Eminem

What This Ringtone Says About You:

"I'm a conformist."

"I will download any song that features an Eric Roberts cameo in the music video."

Verizon Wireless

"About Us" by Brooke Hogan

What This Ringtone Says About You:

"I watch a lot of VH1. A LOT."

Mozzy "Mosquito" Tones
AKA "The Ringtones Adults Can't Hear"

What This Ringtone Says About You:

"I'm under the age of 20."

"I have little to no life...and, consequently, have a large number of missed calls because I employ the use of a non-audible ringtone."

WHO is buying these ringtones?

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 22:38:00 +0000

After consulting Billboard.com to see that frequently squeed-over Justin Timberlake has added another #1 single to his mantle, it was brought to my attention that he was missing one "#1" in particular:

What? No ringtone?

I'd really like to know what the methodology is over at Billboard for determining ringtone hierarchy. By the looks of the chart, I have been lead to believe that the Billboard folks are at the local parish's weekly Bingo somewhere Upstate New York gathering these "facts."

I have nothing against Bingo (except the ink that stains everything in sight or people who falsely yell out "Bingo!" when they only have four down...) or Upstate (except for the incessant foliage), but I don't think that Justin, or any of the songs released THIS YEAR could not be on the Top 10.

Give a listen to the songs blaring out of phones around you. Odds are, they're on the current Top 40 charts. Not last year's - this year's.

Let's be real: Who the heck has downloaded "Halloween," a mere seasonal ringtone, for a song I forgot even existed until today, enough times to warrant a #1 spot? [Whisper: People UPSTATE!]

If you know who they are, please openly mock them, and then have them leave a comment for us here at Squeeworthy.com.

I will not stop until I know the truth!

Geeky squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 18:28:00 +0000

I love widgets. I don't entirely "get" them, but I love them. Some are quite practical (i.e. the weather widget) and some just are really asinine (i.e. the clock widget - not like you don't already have one on your desktop or anything).

Nothing, however, compares to the shock and dismay I experienced when I saw this this morning:

"You failed to water your Chia?" I forgot I even HAD a Chia! So now I have a dead Chia carcass amongst my widget collection. Great.

Why are widgets squeeworthy? Mostly because I said so, but also because they're highly amusing and die on your dashboard.

To get your own, visit: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/

Geeky squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:04:00 +0000

Given the context clues, you can probably guess I'm a big fan of the Macintosh platform.

Not gonna lie. I kinda, sorta in no uncertain terms have a crush on it.

To further celebrate my love of all things Apple, I'm going to share an application that every Mac user should have and every PC user should be deeply jealous of: Adium X.

Available for download at www.adiumx.com, this is the bells-and-whistles version of instant messaging software. The great thing about Adium is that it allows you to connect to AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, Gmail chat, and the kitchen sink...all at the same time. It's like a really cool universal remote for IMing your buddies.

Equally as cool, the customization options. If you can think of it, you can probably have your Adium set up that way. Transparency, using your own images for a background, templates, sounds, functionality...it's all limited by your own creativity.

Check out what others have already submitted at http://www.adiumxtras.com/ and share your own with the world.

If you're a Strongbad fan like me, you'll love this one:

Generous squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 21:01:00 +0000

You're wearing one of these.

You bought it with one of these.

Your friend is calling you on one of these...

...to tell you to listen to one of these:

That's right. There's a new Nano in town. (RED) and Apple have teamed up as the latest (PRODUCT)^RED item up for sale - the iPod nano (PRODUCT)^RED Special Edition.

Apple will give $10 of its purchase price to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. So, not only will you be stylishly well-coordinated in crimson, you'll be making a difference.

Created in cooperation with U2's Bono to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world's most iconic brands to produce (PRODUCT)^RED branded products, the money raised by these (RED) items helps women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.

For more info about the Global Fund and (RED), visit www.JOINRED.com.

What to Listen to This Tuesday: 10/16

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 20:53:00 +0000

I still can't get over that this girl is only 14. (Or 15. Same difference.) At 13, JoJo (AKA Joanna Levesque) hit the top of the charts with her single "(Leave) Get Out," becoming the youngest solo artist ever to do so. 13. You know what I was doing at 13? A science project on the periodic table of the elements. I think I was Chromium.

The thing that's the most impressive about JoJo is not her packaging or her marketing - it's that she's singing about topics like relationships where the mere concept of someone so young having a story to tell about it is...well, straight up weird. It's the way she sings it that makes it all work. You buy it.

JoJo is an unbelievably talented singer for someone that's still so young. Listen to her on the radio, and you'll think you're rocking out to someone a lot older. "Been around the block and dated 14 different losers and taught her daughter to avoid them too," older. If she were in your school choir, you would not want to mess with her. You'd join track and cut your losses.

Not only can the girl riff with the likes of Mariah and Christina, she can act and write songs. Hey, I'm jealous.

Her new single "Too Little Too Late" peaked at #3 on the Billboard Top 100, and she shows no signs of slowing.

Pick up a copy of The High Road tomorrow. With production by Scott Storch, Swizz Beatz, and Timbaland, you know this little girl is going to be doing big things.

Smart squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 16:16:00 +0000

This is a video everyone should see:

http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.ca/flat2.asp?id=6852

Dove's onto something, but can it really affect change?

We'll see.

Let us know what you think.

Exclusive squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 20:37:00 +0000

Here's some exclusive pics from squeeworthy artist Robin Thicke performing in New York City at the new Borders at Penn Plaza.

Robin Thicke is a fan of investment banking, mutual funds, and singing.

Robin is also a fan of my skilled camera work.*
*Holding cameras up over large crowds and hoping something worth showing comes out.

Robin Thicke and a Treo! (I told you they were squee.)

What to Listen to This Tuesday: 10/9

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:49:00 +0000

Nothing is inspiring me this week enough to persuade you to buy it, so I'm going to tell you what you should retroactively go and buy from two weeks ago. "Weird Al" Yankovic's Straight Outta Lynwood.

Weird Al may be admittedly "weird," but he surely isn't dumb. For one, he was his graduating class's valedictorian in high school, and has a degree in Architecture. Secondly, the guy is one of the best in the game at creating song parodies.

He's had some great moments in music parody history, including some of my all-time favorites, "Amish Paradise" (Bad Hair Day) and "Eat It" (Even Worse). Aside from being really crafty in the lyrics department, the guy also actually bothers to secure the permission from the original artists every time he does a cover. He doesn't need to. (Prince has yet to accept his invitation. Ever.)

His latest single, "White & Nerdy," a cover of Chamillionare's hit "Ridin," helped his album score a spot on the Billboard 200 (#9, his highest debut to date) and iTunes' Top 10 most downloaded songs. The video for the song is a little bit too hilarious for me to describe, so I suggest you watch it and try not to pee yourself with laughter.

The background dancing cameo by Donny Osmond did me in. Oh. And when he makes out with a roll of bubble wrap.

You'll see.

Squeeworthy tracks to download:

- "Confessions, Pt. 3" (Usher's "Confessions, Pt. 2")
"I haven't changed my underwear in 27 days! And when I'm kissing you, I fantasize you're a midget. I'm so sorry, Debbie. ...I mean, Bridget."

- "Trapped In the Drive-Thru" (R. Kelly's "Trapped In the Closet")
"I dunno. Do you wanna get something delivered? She's like, Why would I wanna eat liver? I don't even like liver! I'm like, No. I said delivered. She's like, I heard you say liver! I'm like, I should know what I said. She's like, Whatever! I just don't want any liver!"

Yummy squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 19:39:00 +0000

"Chocolate or vanilla?" was probably the most confusing question I have been asked...ever while trying to ordering a Frosty at Wendy's. Don't you mean, "Chocolate or chocolate?"

Since 1969, there was no need to specify a flavor. If you ordered a Frosty, it was inherently chocolaty. In 2006, however, there is, so watch out.

I didn't even know there was such a thing until I was offered a choice. Out of pure curiosity, I elected to try the vanilla. I don't think anyone else knew, either. Wendy's should thank me for a 1% increase in Vanilla Frosty sales in the North East because of my story. I got at least five people to try the stuff.

Well, I've gotta tell you, it tastes exactly the way one think it would - like a Vanilla Frosty. If you're into vanilla, you'll love it. If you fear change or have a coco addiction, I think I should just let you be with the Original.

If you want to convert more VFF (Vanilla Frosty Fans), give them out for Halloween. (No, not the actual frozen dairy dessert. That would ruin someones hard-earned sweet stash. Coupons.) They're a great alternative to candy bars, unless you're lactose intolerant. 300 million Frostys are served at Wendy's every year, so they're in the minority on October 31st as far as I'm concerned.

This isn't the first restaurant-type establishment shaking things up. Beginning this week, Starbucks Coffee Company is sampling out breakfast sandwiches with their spiffy new warming station. I know many-a-Barista, and used to wear a green apron myself, so I was cool enough to try one last week.

As a fan of late-night breakfast sandwich snacking at rival Dunkin' Donuts, they're giving them a run for their money. Also, these are made in a really giant EZ Bake oven type device, and not a microwave. This, in a weird way, mimics the difference between Subway and Quiznos. It all comes down to liking things mmm...toasty.

Try them both and let us know if you think they're as squeeworthy as I do.

Did you know?
Research shows that nearly a third of adults have dipped french fries into a Frosty (or know someone who has). Whether or not this research is scientifically sound, I don't know.

What to Listen to This Tuesday: 10/2

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 18:31:00 +0000

In the spirit of "New Music Tuesdays" when new albums are released to stores and the Internet, I bestow you with a new weekly entry called "What to Listen to This Tuesday," every Monday. (Have I lost you yet?)

I'm basically giving you 24 hours to contemplate and buy. It would be pointless if I did it on Wednesdays. Unless you're Marty McFly.

This week, I am THIS close to breaking out a pocket watch and waving it in front of your collective faces to pick up Robin Thicke's new album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke.

Where you may already know him from:

Will Smith - "Switch (R&B Remix)"
That Sprite commercial with the long-haired bike messenger
Reruns of The Wonder Years
The one good song from the In the Mix soundtrack

Son of Growing Pains actor Alan Thicke, Robin began his entertainment career as a young actor, and later segued into songwriting and producing for artists such as Brian McKnight, Usher, Jordan Knight, Christina Aguilera, Mya, and Michael Jackson.

His 2003 debut album, A Beautiful World, gained popularity with the lead single, "When I Get You Alone," featuring a sample of Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven." (If you ever rented Saturday Night Fever or know Beethoven's original, you're nodding right about now.)

After collaborating with Pharrell Williams on "Wanna Love You Girl" and signing to StarTrak, Robin's new album was slated for a third quarter 2005 release. This was later pushed back to January 2006, then February, and then every subsequent month thereafter, driving fans like me absolutely psycho. This album is well overdue, and it's finally coming out tomorrow.

Featuring artists like Lil' Wayne and Faith Evans, this album manages to maintain his unique point of view, and delves into a bit more mainstream R&B, soul sound.

Why is Robin Thicke squeeworthy? If you're looking to diversify your iTunes playlist, this is the artist to make it happen. (He also looks really good in a suit.)

Squeeworthy songs:

"Ask Myself"
"Lost Without U"
"Got 2 Be Down"

Smart squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 17:30:00 +0000

Put away your books and break out the No. 2 pencil. Here's a math equation for you:

A man is walking across a railroad bridge that goes from point A to point B. He starts at point A, and when he is 1/4th of the way across the bridge, he hears a train approaching. If the train's speed is 60MPH, how many passengers onboard are reading a James Patterson book?

Answer: 1/3.

That's right. Take a look around you on any plane, train, or automobile and you are guaranteed to spot someone reading a James Patterson book. Deemed "The man who can't miss" by Time Magazine, Patterson may be better known to your parents as the author of the Alex Cross series, or the Women's Murder Club. To your friends, he's the guy that created the butt-kicking kids with wings.

Maximum Ride, a best-selling novel on the New York Times Best Sellers List, is not your ordinary book. It comes complete with an uber-cool website (MaximumRide.com), a message board popularized by almost 10,000 fans, a MySpace, and its own soundtrack! That's right. A book with a soundtrack.

I first discovered this series after learning about The Summer Obsession's involvement on the CD. Featuring more cool music by Holly Brook (The girl from the hook on Fort Minor's hit "Where'd You Go") and other up and coming artists, the characters "hand-picked" the bands and songs that represented them and their story the best.

Never one to turn down a great blog, the characters post updates on Fang's blog, letting "Flock" fans know what they're up to between books. With all the secret files and cool pictures, no wonder readers are addicted to this!

Their story is intense, fun, and funny. If you're a fan of sarcasm, take some notes from Max. If you like the tall, dark, and quiet type, you're bound to squee over Fang. (According to their MySpace, Iggy, the blind pyrotechnic genius of the group may be giving him a run for his money, though!)

The third installment in the series, Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, hits stores May 2007. Rumor has it there may be a movie in the works. With the cool wing special effects in the latest X-Men movie (Remember Angel?), this should be something no one wants to miss!

Squeeworthy site extras:

Listen to the Holly Brook/Max Ride podcast
Watch exclusive Max Ride videos from The Summer Obsession

Geeky squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 20:48:00 +0000

I remember when I bought my first iPod. I couldn't wait to have all my music in one spot and not have to lug around some dumb portable CD player ever again. I could wait, however, to rip the hundreds of CDs I had accumulated over the years. Ew.

After tackling 14 stacks of CDs, seven hours of monotonous iTunes babysitting, and going near-blind thanks to the constant flickering glow of my monitor, I had to put all these dumb things back into their jewel cases.

Why couldn't I just bribe someone with a bag of Cheetos to do this for me, I wondered.

Look no further, because I am about to do you a huge favor: www.riptopia.com

Yup. It may not be for a bag of puffy cheese snack goodness, but your time, vision, and sanity are well worth the expense.

For a $1.49 per CD, you can have each of your discs ripped at 192 kbps (That's a good thing, by the way...) complete with cover art, shipping and insurance. Your CDs and a DVD containing your newly ripped music is mailed back to you, ready for your iPod.

If you're really lazy, you can buy a preloaded iPod from Riptopia. They're Authorized Apple Resellers, so you know you're not getting some refurbished first generation brick back. It's just like buying a brand new one from the Apple Store, but all of your favorite songs are magically on it, right out of the box.

In other cool iPod news, ordering your iPod through Apple.com allows you to get free engraving and free shipping.

Squeeworthy engraving suggestions include:

- This iPod is filled with Squee!
- Warning: This iPod contains squee.
- I squee for music!
- I wish I paid a bag of Cheetos for this.

Theatrical squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 17:47:00 +0000

Admit it. You have a boyband guilty pleasure. Odds are, you also like musical theatre. Put them in a blender, and what do you get? Altar Boyz.

One of the funniest satirical shows I've seen in a long time, Altar Boyz tells the story of five boys from Ohio, Matthew (The "Justin Timberlake"), Mark (The "Gay?" One), Luke (The Bad Boy), Juan (The Latin Heartthrob), and Abraham (He's Jewish), who form a Christian boyband, trying to save the audience's souls through their music at their NYC tour stop.

With moves straight out of NKOTB and lyrics like, "Jesus called me on my cell phone" and "God put the rhythm in me so I could bust a move," this is the show you need to see if you want to know how darn ridiculous manufactured pop music can be.

The funniest part about it is how good they are at mocking it. So good, in fact, there's a fan website, a MySpace, and a legion of fans called Altarholics who attend all of their shows.

To score tickets to their Off-Broaday production at New World Stages, click here.

If you're not in New York, don't fear. The Boyz are going on a national tour.

Chicago, IL
10/10/06-10/22/06
LaSalle Bank Theatre

Boston, MA
10/31/06-11/05/06
Colonial Theatre

Baltimore, MD
11/07/06-11/12/06
Hippodrome Theatre, France-Merrick Performing Arts Center

Philadelphia, PA
11/28/06-12/03/06
Merriam Theatre

Minneapolis, MN
12/19/06-12/31/06
Pantages Theatre

Pittsburgh, PA
04/17/07-04/29/07
Byham Theatre

If you have issues with being seen out in public, there's always the Original Off-Broadway Cast Album.

Squeeworthy jams: "Rhythm In Me," "Epiphany"
Favorite member: Matt.

Funny squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 19:37:00 +0000

I'm always a fan of a good blog, and John Mayer definitely has one of them.

Why is this squeeworthy? Cause the guy bothers to write his own material instead of his management or his label telling you "what John thinks." You're reading the unfiltered thoughts of JM's head, most of which are a sitcom waiting to happen.

Take, for instance, John's latest post in the style of popular celebrity gossip site "Pink Is the New Blog," or his entry entitled, "Nike Plus Vs. A Guy On Stage" where he wore the latest gizmo from Apple, the Nike Plus iPod kit on stage during a concert.

*Visit his blog to see who won.

Buy the kit for yourself and find out how many miles you log running to chem class before the bell rings or trying to catch that fleeting school bus in the AM. You'll probably get awarded bonus calories burned if you're a freshman with a backpack.

Speaking of Mr. Mayer, if you didn't buy Continuum, you are missing a staple album of 2006.

Get it now on iTunes:

Other squeeworthy blogs worth bookmarking:

Jason Mraz
Fang's Blog, from the book Maximum Ride
Pink Is the New Blog

Beauty squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 18:08:00 +0000

There's a lot of beauty products out there that get positive feedback, but never as consistently as Benefit's Dandelion pressed powder.

Pick up any magazine, scroll through the customer feedback section of any beauty website - this product is getting the big two thumbs up across the board.

One of the dangers of using blush is applying too much, inadvertently making yourself up to be a clown, or applying it to the wrong area of your cheeks, making you wish you never bought the stuff in the first place. To avoid looking like Sideshow Bob, use this stuff.

You don't need to be a makeup artist. Dandelion is a guaranteed foolproof way of brightening up your face by using it as a light blush, or an all-over highlighting powder.

If you go to a school that cracks down on excessive makeup use, this will be your new secret weapon! You'll look like you woke up at 11, and everyone else will look like they stayed up until 5AM, bugged out on coffee to finish that overdue term paper.

Bonus, it comes in a cool box to sit on your vanity or dresser. (No, really. It's that cool.)

Get yours here.

Smart squee.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin) — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 19:34:00 +0000

People often find this very surprising about me, but I hate to read books. That's right. The writer hates to read.

Blame it on the never-ending required summer reading that was shoved down my throat for years, or the attention-span-of-a-gnat mentality that has saturated the very core of society, but I literally have little to no patience for books.

Magazines, newspapers, blogs, crawls on the bottom of E! about Tara Reid, and websites are the only things digestible enough for me to handle anymore. Library's scare me. Now you know why.

Books that do get my attention are generally filled with lots of useless information that I can impress people with at social gatherings. i.e. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (the Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction (Albert Gallatin was Secretary of the Treasury from 1801-1814) and MTV Uncensored (Kurt Loder is old).

Another such book, which I have admittedly yet to read but sounds promising, is From Altoids to Zima : The Surprising Stories Behind 125 Famous Brand Names.

Let's discover this book together, shall we? We'll exchange notes in the hallway between classes on Monday.

On a side note, I do use my empty Altoids tin cases to hold paperclips on my desk. It kinda freaks co-workers out if they're expecting something "curiously strong" to chomp on instead. Although, I guess a paperclip would qualify.