With the Band

So, for fun, today is a music tee from a fictional band.

"Sex Bob-Omb" is the band Scott Pilgrim belongs to in the self-titled series and brought to life in the 2010 film adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, starring good Canadian boy, Michael Cera, as the title everyman-hero.

This is one of my swag trophies from Comic-Con 2010. Since the movie release was in August, the Scott Pilgrim vs The World street team was everywhere all the time in San Diego that July. I was even able to score both this babydoll fit and a red unisex for Jeff. Of course when we went to see the movie, wearing our shirts, there was something awkward about being the Asian girl in a Sex Bob-Omb shirt...

 
Bands and movies/television go together well in many circumstances and I find it interesting when a fictional world can spawn a real-life band. The Harry Potter franchise even spawned an entire genre of music called "Wrock" (or "Wizard Rock"). Real life bands that visit fictional settings - Barenaked Ladies on 90210 came to mind first for some reason - are also neat instances of this special kind of crossover. 

Search Me, Browse Me

... but don't mess with my access.

The Internet is such an integral part of our lives in the First World it seems (the UN has even declared Internet freedom to be a basic human right) that, like modern food supply, we rarely think too hard about where we get it from or how it gets funded. So when my Google homepage started asked for money in exchange for a t-shirt, I have to admit I was intrigued. 

Mozilla has a mission statement. Heck, it has a MISSION. That, in and of itself makes it degrees of magnitude cooler than Internet Explorer could ever hope to be. 

I also happen to think its icon is really cute.

But getting back to the Mozilla Mission, it states that the World Wide Web should remain in the hands of the people. What said people do with that is up to us, I guess. I live a fairly open online life ... within limits. I try to keep my photos representative and my posting interesting. Eight of the ten results Google returns on my name are me but since Google filters geographically (as well in as other ways), that might be because I'm searching from my stomping grounds. One thing I did not know would pop up in my search was my postal code. My current postal code. And another thing I did not know until last Friday is that all one needs to access a person's cellular phone account is a name, the cell phone number, the birthday, and postal code of said person. Ask me how I learned. :(

I don't think Internet freedom is a bad idea. I think the Internet has reshaped the world in amazing ways since it became a truly accessible thing. But I do think people need to be aware that their information is out there and its value is limitless in the wrong person's hands. I also think people should realize that even a mall kiosk has security cameras ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Back to School

... but not the Rodney Dangerfield one! (Don't have a t-shirt to commemorate that one yet)

Happy New Year!

ThinkGeek purchase (Xmas gift to myself)

The first tee of 2013 is inspired by the 1986 Matthew Broderick film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, possibly one of the most iconic of 80s high school movies for quotability and pop references. "Movies based in high schools" is a great cross-genre genre. Like the adolescent years, these movies encompass comedy, tragedy, surrealism, mystery, and fantasy. Often all in one afternoon. They can be uplifting, sobering, confusing, disturbing, and ridiculous. Again, sometimes simultaneously. And if anyone were to contend that these movies are hyperbolic in addressing the chaos and roller-coaster nature of these hallowed halls, please come and visit my classroom for one day.

I'll throw the first gauntlet down and state that The Breakfast Club is the best of the lot. I could probably entertain contenders in the forms of To Sir With Love (theme song alone puts it in the top 10), Stand and Deliver (with the astounding performance of Edward James "So Say We All!" Olmos) or Pretty in Pink (despite the unfortunate script change, it's still the best of the female-centred Hughes movies). Any other challengers out there?