• sing-song voice
• bright eyes
• head turns
• concerned/distraught facial expressions
• gazes into the distance

Brie on "Community". An overachiever with mainstream sex appeal.

Everyone knows about Alison’s run as Trudy Campbell in 20 episode’s of Mad Men, and her current role on Community. Her first credited role seems to be a lead character in “Stolen Poem“, 2004 short that was made while Alison was a student at California Institute of the Arts, but sadly, no video seems available online. Here are the available online video clips of her lesser-known roles:

Web shorts/series:

Alison Brie in "Hot Sluts"

• One of Alison’s best roles, hands down. More impressives is that she did this after the first season of Mad Men. “Hot Sluts” is described as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz stepped into Boogie Nights. Watch all 5 episodes at Atom. The trailer is hilarious and the 90’s filming style is perfect:

• On the 2008-2009 web series “My Alibi” Alison plays an overachieving high school student, very similar to her character Annie on Community. Each of the 19 episodes is 3 minutes or less in length. The first one:

• In “Buddy ‘n’ Andy”, Alison plays a love interest of Andy (a piece of meat) in his dream:

• Singing “Santa Baby” in a comedy series titled “Christmas Idol”

Short films:

• Alison has a role as Alyson in “Us One Night”, a short film set at an engagement party. The trailer is available, and the film was recently screened at the Williamstown Film Festival:

• In 2008, Alison played a sexual abuse victim in “Salvation, Texas”, a film that appeared at a couple of independent film festivals:

[myspace 13992670]

Television:

• Last year, Alison appeared as a high school student in “The Deadliest Lesson“, a Lifetime Movie Network film about drugs and murder. Who doesn’t love a Lifetime movie?

• Alison appeared on a 2006 episode of “Hannah Montana” as a girl who was paid to pretend she is in a relationship. :

Other:

• Here’s a classy black & white video portrait shot by Tyler Shields, the man who also shot the Cary Brothers video mentioned here last year:

• For pictures, check out the Facebook fan page.
• IMDB has a list of Brie’s credits. Expect to see her soon on the big screen in as a teenage daughter in Montana Amazon alongside Olympia Dukakis and Haley Joel Osment.

Walmart stores, 2006. http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/

FlowingData has a series of animations that plot the expansion of Walmart, Target, and Ross store chains. The post-1995 growth among all 3 stories is shocking, but the strategies of each store have remained unique.

Walmart:

• Founded 1962, limited to MO/AR/OK/KS until mid-late 70’s
• 1984: rapid growth in south-central/southeast
• Slowing approaches northeast, takes off in 1993
• Massive growth since mid-90’s

Target:

• Founded in Minnesota, 1962
• Minor expansion across the Central U.S. in 1970
• 1987: California
• 1993: growth pace increases
• Late 90’s: East Coast
• Post-2000: extreme growth

Ross:

• Founded in San Francisco, 1965
• 1981: only 3 stores
• 1990: 100+ stores in targeted southern cities, plus Philadelphia/DC
• Still doesn’t exist in the North or Northeast

Superinteressante / Aug. 2009 {Flickr: Gabriel Gianordoli}

• 1 orgasm = 25.6 calories
• 277 liters of semen are ejaculated globally every minute
• upon penetration, a 17 year old will last 30 seconds; a 40 year old 10 minutes

You'll still find 3 Spider-Mans in Hollywood

Pretty exciting news out of Hollywood tonight: One Spider-Man impersonator is temporarily off the streets as he answers to outstanding warrants. The news from KTLA:

And officers arriving on the scene found several different people dressed as Spider-Man.

The stopped one of the impersonators, but it wasn’t the suspect. The second “Spider-Man” they stopped was the suspect.

Hilarious.

Throwback plates

Hate the mandatory extra registration cost if you like, but please don’t criticize the design (much). After all, who really likes the current (2001-present) layout and color scheme? And, for that matter, who really enjoyed the boring 1986-2001 red statue of liberty on white background? It may not be as beautiful as Colorado (green with white mountains) but at least it’s not as creepy as Kentucky’s 2003-2005 plate. The proposed new license plates are painted with New York State colors – something that plates from the 1920’s to 1980’s enjoyed:

30's NY plates {worldlicenceplates.com}

Unfortunate, however, is the requirement to turn in plates by the next registration date. No law-abiding citizen will have the current design past mid-2012. In some states, it’s a symbol of pride and respect to carry vintage plates. You’ll find this in Massachusetts and California, for example. The change is all for the best, though, since old plates lack reflective value and cannot necessarily be scanned with the latest license plate reading technology. Plus, unregistered drivers will be weeded out.

1. David Vendetta – I Hope She Turns Around. France. Full of forward motion with a solid chorus. Humorous touches to the video compliment the standard attractive female.
2. Sasha Dith – American Boys. Germany. The follow-up to 2005’s hit “Russian Girls” covers a classic Russian pop tune. Wait for the list of American male names.
3. Little Boots – Remedy (Kaskade Remix). England/USA. The original has been out for a while, but the solid remix is new and is featured on November’s Promo Only disc.
4. Inna – July (Play & Win Radio Edit). Romania. More smooth Balkan beats for the late autumn.
5. Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks (Fred Falke Remix). USA/France. The standard Fred Falke treatment. Subtle 80’s-like vocals over smooth instrumentals.
6. Private – My Secret Lover (Diplo Remix). UK/USA. A low-key version of last year’s break-out hit.
7. Music Go Music – Warm In The Shadows (Fred Falke Remix). USA/France. 8-bit sounds mix with L.A. vocals.
8. Washed Out – Olivia. USA. Sounds like “The Safety Dance” on barbituates dubbed from VHS. Wonderful.
9. Weezer – (If You Are Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To. USA. The band returns with a new release. Very commercial but more catchy than anything on this list.
10. Plastiscines – Barcelona (Lifelike Remix). France. The first 50 seconds aren’t great, but the rest is killer. 100% French, from female band to remixer.
11. Miami Horror – Sometimes. Australia. Nothing wrong with this one.
12. Robert M & Bio Punk - Start Again. Poland. Solid production and a sound that should expand in 2010.
13. The Crystal Method ft. Emily Haines – Come Back Clean (Kaskade Radio Edit). USA/Canada. Haunting vocals over a commerical sounding Crystal Method.
14. Shwayze – Get U Home (Supersede & Nick Morrison Remix). USA/UK. Dirty lyrics for late in the night.
15. Dash Berlin ft. Emma Hewitt – Waiting. Netherlands/UK. Clean vocal trance with a meaningful message.
16. Taio Cruz – No Other One (Ian Carey Remix). UK/USA. Ian Carey’s best remix in a long time.

Please remove the body in your trunk, heavy people in the backseat, or bizarre suspension configuration. Hot rods with a low front and high rear are cool. Cars that are level are great. Low-riders are fun to drive. Vehicles that drive around with the back suspension at maximum compression just look ridiculous. There’s a reason most cars can only carry 750 lbs. Acceleration and control suffers when the majority of the added weight is in the rear. Do everyone a favor and rearrange the weight distribution.

Additionally, it seems that older cars are more prone to being driven with large quantities of junk in the trunk. These noble cars have provided tens of thousands of miles of duty and should enjoy their golden years without this extra stress. Have some heart.

Sincerely,

TKBB

Polish dance/house artist Robert M is finally getting heard outside of eastern Europe. His work as a very high class/exotic feel to it. Expect more of this sound in 2010 – if you are fortunate enough to find it. This video has 94 coments on YouTube – nearly all are in Polish.