Blink Kitty Love

COFFEE NIGHTMARES

Yes, we have been spending a bit too much time at the local green + marine themed coffee hangout. And all they keep playing is 1, the collection of Beatles #1 singles.  And we don't like it anymore. We never really liked it much.  The trouble is, we know all the words, so we sing along EVEN IF (and this is important), we can't stand the song.  The staff is starting to look a bit wild eyed, with increased muttering, and we worry what we'll see and hear the next time we need a latte fix.  (For the record: TK, green tea latte + Ringo; Ty, coffe, black + Paul; Tinker, pumpkin spice latte with soy + silly love songs; Tammy, depends on her day and mood, but usually involves double or triple something + Lennon when he was pretty).

And here's what we fear next week might look like:

 

WE'LL TAKE TWO OF EACH

Woot Double-take Derby time so we figured it couldn't hurt to put some extra love* out into the universe for those designs we want to see take the leap shirtward.  So listen you (you being a reference to the shirt.woot powers that pick), here they are, the Blink Kitty Love approved final four.  Make 'em happen.

TK:  The Legend of Pancakes (who needs a weapon)

Tammy:  Opulence (because everyone should have goals)

 

Ty:  Ancient Jazztecs (this design may (we said may) be the only thing cooler than him)

 

Tinker:  The Tall Grass (who wouldn't want to skateboard through this plus props to Kevlar51 for keeping his unique sketchy style going)

Did we miss your favorite?  Drop a mention in the comments so we can make sure we gave it a vote.  Cause we'd do that for you.  Really.  At least on Tuesdays.  Tuesdays is voting day.  

*remember in TK's case, read any mention of "love" with the much less commital "maybe kinda like"

ALL ABOUT EWE (AND OSCAR)

No, that's not a misspelling and we're not having a special Monday Shirt o'The Week post to annouce we've started watching Bette Davis movies.  What we are here to tell you about is the simple, funny and available for a limited time Ewe Boat shirt by JadenKale, artist and Tilteed curator.  Yes, we simply love puns and whenever we play Settlers Of Catan, we are harassed for how much our strategy involves hoarding sheep (Tinker's little brother likes to invent habits we don't have.)  But mostly, we're showing you this because every time we think about it we laugh.  Thinking...yep, still laughing.

Yes, easily amused. It's our middle name. And yes, still laughing. 

As for crushing, we're back to burgers.  And 5 Guys.  And french fries.  

 

Nothing beats natural lighting. If you haven't tried 5 Guys yet, you should find one. They're amazing and affordable. Our burger buddy, @KristynBurtt, frequently taunts us with pictures, sending us heartlessly out into the cold to cure our craving. And then we throw french fries at her.   And kudos to the aforementioned, french fry dodging @KristynBurtt, who is starting her Oscar coverage odyssey for Star Pulse and Mingle Media TV tomorrow. We're looking forward to some inside information. Who are we rooting for? Natalie Portman, Tangled (with a vote or two for How To Train Your Dragon), Colin Firth (Tammy doesn't care what he does, she just cares that he's Colin), Inception (Tinker likes the cinematography), Amy Adams (Ty always a fan) and we're really annoyed that the Joan Rivers doc was skipped over -- although to be fair, we haven't seen it yet, but we like to be unreasonably annoyed about something every once in awhile. Be glad it's not you. Also, Diane Warren's "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" which allowed Cher to have the best song in a movie where she was not the best singer. Show stopped, hand over award. And we did like the job Pharell Williams did with the Despicable Me score -- fun and fresh.

NEW CRUSH + SHIRT O' THE WEEK

The Crush:  Nadia G of Bitchin Kitchen.  Yes, she rocks the kitchen, our world and makes burgers that look like this (graphic lifted from her site):

 

And so you don't miss us too much, we're going to do a shirt o' the week.  Remember, none of you are kicking into the pizza fund regularly so you won't be seeing fancy, expensive shirts, but we think the sites we frequent give value for money.  And make great shirts.

The Shirt:  So this week, it's cmdixon2 at Goodjoe with The Last Straw.  We'd like to wear it when we hit the movies over the weekend, but we'll have to wait for a couple of weeks to do that.  We're still hitting the movies though.  Which movies?  Tammy's opting for Black Swan and popcorn, Ty and Tinker are excited about The Fighter and munching on Reese's Pieces and TK, well, honestly, TK's seen Tron: Legacy too too many times (although we did hear a rumor he'd been spotted tearing up at a Tangled screening or two -- and not just during the dying parts.)  TK's snack of choice:  whatever's leftover in his jacket pocket from the last time.  We don't ask to share.

The Last Straw:  

 

And have you seen Joan Jett in The Eyeliners' "Destroy" video?  It's one of our 2010 favorite moments. 

Happy New Year.  Stay safe.  We wish you good times + good friends.

CAPE, MASK OR ARMOR?

Iron Man 2 opens -- well, somewhere there are midnight showings getting out now + the I've seen it buzz will begin.  We loved the first one, we mostly lean toward love when there's a superhero coming live off the page of a comic near you (why isn't there a comic near you, darn it? It's one of the great American art forms -- ok, maybe the French and the Japanese and the Belgians (yes, we've heard of TinTin) have the comic book tradition but we're still claiming it for us.)  And now, comics seem like one of the better ways to catapult your idea to the big screen. Skip the screenplay, go straight to pounding the internet and the convention floor with your graphic novel.  And tell 'em the band sent you.

So, we'll hit you up with some comic movies, inspired songs, graphic novels..we'll start w/ movies and see how far we get.  And the first to bat is Tammy.

Tammy (The Terrific) 

Movie:  Dick Tracy -- he's a comic, we're letting it pass.  

Part:  Breathless Mahoney

Song:  Sooner or Later by Madonna, from the album "I'm Breathless," inspired by Dick Tracy*

Graphic Novel:  Phonogram, Volume 2:  The Singles Club  because music IS magic (and she wants to be drawn by Jamie McKelvie)

*official Dick Tracy soundtrack is a great ride through variety artists

TK (Back in Black)

Movie:  Batman (1989)           

Part: The guy in the suit, who doesn't want to be the guy in the suit

song:  Arms of Orion  Prince with Sheena Easton

Graphic Novel suggestions:  Scott Pilgrim (haven't you read them yet?)

Ty (A Blink and A Wink)

Movie:  Flash, the TV series      

part:  The Flash

"Flash" by Queen**

Graphic Novel:  Whiteout, the original, the first, the only

**yes, that's a different Flash, but Ty wouldn't mind being the guy on the sky sled, either. 

Tinker  (Tinker)

Movie:  Hellboy             

part:  Hellboy, 'cause who doesn't love kittens and kicking ass (he's mostly CGI anyway)

song:  Jimmy Olsen's Blues  by The Spin Doctors 'cause who doesn't love Lois Lane

Graphic Novels:  Hopeless Savages  ultimate cool

RECORD STORE DAY

Yes, we have a vinyl stash and a favorite place to try out something new (relative term) and/or get inspired.  Record Store Day is April 17th, 2010.  Support your local indie record store.  We love our iPod too, but it doesn't have fliers.  And you can't run into us.

And Mr. Scruff has a new SoundCloud.  Six hours of "Soul Funk Latin Jazz".  Float on in.

CAPTAIN AMERICA + CASTING

Yes, we have a comic book geek or two among us, but who doesn't love Cap.  And if you answer "I don't" or don't know who we're talking about, yes, that's our glare you can feel on the back of your neck.  You get a minor pass if your native citizenship is not American, but only a minor because, heck, Cap is all the good things the United States is supposed to represent.

As the people casting the Captain America movie seem to be having MAJOR difficulties of a GENERAL sort* in deciding on an actor suited to bring Steve Rogers/Captain America to the screen and since we ALWAYS have an opinion, we've decided to help them out.  So, here are our casting suggestions (and favorite other bits of iconic Americana).

Tammy   mood:  in the mood for eye candy and apple pie topped with vanilla ice cream.

So her Cap suggestion is Zac Efron, well, because:  

• he's dreamy (yes, rest of band making gagging noises now) 
• has the right coloring 
• Can act (or if you're a studio exec, will bring in the female demographic)

TK   mood:  just wants the Avengers movie to get done...

He suggests Ryan McPartlin aka Chuck's Captain Awesome because:

• he's AWESOME 
• that should cover it  
• the Chuck producers originally wanted to turn the character into a Russian agent (so the DVD extra features claim) and couldn't bring themselves to do it.  Sounds like Cap to us.

Tinker   mood:  skating 'round the corner

Her guys are either of the Zeke and Luther pair because:

• skaters are cool
• it's an origin story so Cap should be young w/ 'tude.
• skaters rock...

Ty  mood:  Listening to Springsteen sing "Born In the USA" 

His suggestion:  Cast ME!

 

*we've been following the fun with the help of @mtvsplashpage

FIVE RING FEVER

Mood:  Hockey for most of the week when not Mood:  Curling or Mood:  Something on ice or snow (or zipping through the fog) so we thought we'd share some of our favorite Olympic moments with you.  And to keep TK from being considered too anti-Canadian, nothing that happened during the Opening Ceremonies is eligible although we loved the First People's presence, dancing + stamina.

Tammy:  still swooning over Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue, who skated beautifully to capture the ice dancing gold.

Tinker:  Kelly Clark's first qualifying run, Torah Bright's gold medal winning glory and anytime Shaun White was in the air.

Ty:  Bode Miller's return to form and his one of every medal color collection.

TK:  Ryan Miller in the goal and USA Men's Hockey exceeding expectations.  Tonight, though, women's hockey where we're not really sure who to root for but we're betting on excellent game.

Note:  Don't dip your pizza in the chocolate milkshake (or the coffee or the mocha latte), save it for the garlic butter (Garlic = Healthy, right?)

MOOD: VANCOUVER

The band is in an Olympic frenzy -- and not about Percy Jackson (we would have specified half Olympian, and although Tammy is always glad to see Pierce Brosnan in a movie, which is why we had to sit through -- well, you don't want to know and we REALLY want to forget it, the once every four years sporting spectacle takes precedence -- and TK hasn't finished the book).  No, we'll take athletes from around the world, sport, snow, NOISE, and Canada.  O Canada.  So in honor of the 2010 Winter Games we'll give you a quick run down of our favorite Canadian musicians + Olympic sports.  Yours?

Tammy   sport:  Ice Dancing   mood:  in need of a partner

"and every day you gaze upon the sunset 
with such love and intensity 
why it's...it's almost as if 
if you could only crack the code" 

"Calling All Angels"  Jane Siberry and kd lang

Ty   sport:  Freestyle skiing  mood:  colorful

"On the walls of the day 
In the shade of the sun 
We wrote down 
Another vision of us"

"Challengers"  The New Pornographers

TK  sport:  bobsled     mood:  the opposite of wandering the wide open spaces

"A vial of hope and a vial of pain
In the light they both looked the same
Poured them out on into the world
On every boy and every girl"

"Neon Bible"  The Arcade Fire

Tinker   sport:  SNOWBOARDING    mood:  whistling, cheerful and bounding through the snow

"There's a war inside of me

Do I cause new heartbreak to write a new broken song

Do I push it down or let it run me right into the ground"

"You Wouldn't Like Me"  Tegan And Sara

ELF PANIC starring Blink Kitty Love