Ballerina wannabe

Last week, no one was in the stretching room at the Y and I started making use of the barre as a secret ballerina. I was reminded of this ballet workout cassette tape I had as a kid, which came in a set with a tutu, hot pink leg warmers, and a pink plastic barre that my dad set up for me. I really liked doing ballet with that tape.

I started thinking...we have a Wii Fit at home. There must be a ballet workout game for that, right? There is, but it's got terrible reviews. Like most video games "for girls," someone banged this out thinking that little girls will enjoy the overall pinkness of it and that will be that. I think they're missing the boat on this one! Wii Fit seems tailor-made for a good ballet or dance game, and Wii Fit games can work so well for any age.

Seems like video game companies overall say it's tough to get girls and women into video games. I'm sure, by and large, female audiences prefer games with different themes then male audiences do ("be a vet" vs. "sniper fun" or "puzzles" over "cars with loud engines"). But female audiences aren't stupid and can recognize a sub-par game. The world within the game has to be just as cool, detailed, and complete as a game created in one of the standard genres.

Anyway, got sidetracked! I'm thinking of getting the New York City Ballet Workout on DVD. Then I can be a secret ballerina in the privacy of my home. :)

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Another vampire post

image from SciFi Wire

Did anyone happen to check out Entertainment Weekly's list of the 20 Greatest Vampires of All Time? I was psyched that one Buffy vamp made the cut (Angel), but was shocked at one all-important omission: Spike.

The places Buffy took this character were more complex and greater than I ever thought possible for TV. Spike is endlessly interesting and brilliantly written. One could analyze his character for days on end. Watching his story unfold (I'm not done yet! No spoilers!) has provided continual creative inspiration. Lots of writers must draw inspiration from Spike—I recently read that Nora Roberts (surprising!) keeps a figurine of Spike on her writing desk.

If I'd had to choose between Angel and Spike for that list, I would've gone with Spike. Don't worry, I already wrote a letter.

Top Chef Masters

My only current reality-TV addiction is Top Chef. And now there’s a special season to tide me over til fall! In each new episode, 4 famous chefs compete as Top Chef Masters.

The competition is decidedly not fierce. The chefs have already established names for themselves in their industry. They’re all competing for charity. On the regular seasons of Top Chef, the competition is cutthroat as newcomers compete for a big break.

Still, it’s amazing to see what these guys do within the crazy restrictions of the judges’ challenges. And also to see them goof around with each other. Highlights so far…

Master Chef Hubert Keller makes a whipped-cream mouse, delighting 3 junior Girl Scouts. (And me.) Wins competition.
New York City food critic Gael Greene. Period.

While awaiting the judges’ decisions, pastry chef Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake (best restaurant name ever) decides to have the chefs bake cookies together. A deadpan Wiley Dufresne makes fun of his wacky creative side (and the fact he's not a pastry chef): “Can you microwave a cookie? Deep fry? Pan sear?”

I'm psyched for the real competition to begin again, but this is good fun in the meantime.

Tweets from space

Ever since I read this New York Magazine piece back in February, I've been intrigued by Twitter, but haven't latched on. I've had trouble understanding why it would be a good addition to my arsenal of Interweb distractions. Friend updates are cool, but Facebook has that. And so what if John Mayer had salami for lunch? If Oprah's having a bad hair day? But this is officially fuckin' cool:

NASA astronaut Mike Massimino is sending "tweets" from space. His first update:

"From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!"

Manly men?

I’m trying to make a conscious effort to reduce my intake of media that depicts men in an unflattering light. I know, I know—since when do the boys need a break? But really. Everywhere I turn lately, men are portrayed as creepy rapists (Dollhouse, Watchmen, Towelhead, even Slumdog Millionaire), sicko killers, crooks, or lazy, incompetent schlubs. The first 2 categories are making me particularly crazy, causing my blood pressure to rise when I so much as pass a male alone on the street these days. So that’s where the idea for exposure-reduction began.

In real life, I am exposed to good examples of males all the time—my fiancé, my brothers, my father, etc. But for some reason, I am letting the media’s depiction of men taint my perception of the ones I don’t personally know. Some amount of suspicion/distance is just smart in a big city, but it can lead to being just plain suspicious. Or worse, fearful. And that’s no way to live.

In old movies, there are lots of men portrayed as heroes (but the obvious problem there is that the female characters are often helpless). So, what’s going on these days? Where are our modern honest, hardworking, heroic male TV/movie/literary characters?

Any suggestions? Where my boys at?

Slay On, Slayer

I just began watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the beginning, and I am completely hooked. I never watched this show when it was on TV because a) I never watched much TV in those years, and b) the show is called Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Really, now?

However, Chris is in love with the writings of one Joss Whedon and has always assured me that I'd love this show. On his recommendation, I finally got around to giving it a shot. Maybe it's the sweet '90s outfits, or the major girl-power factor, or the sexy vampire love interest (Robert Pattinson, eat your heart out). Who knows. Now, this blog is in immediate danger of becoming a Buffy tribute site, full of creepy fan-fic and what have you. But let's stop short of THAT. The servers are down at work today, so this is what you get:

¡Vámonos! (alternate title: Barf)

You have GOT to be joking me. Chris just saw this on NY1 and called out to me, "Um, you're not gonna like this..."

Nickelodeon and Mattel are giving Dora the Explorer a tween makeover. Meant for girls five and up, the new, leggier Dora will supposedly allow girls to grow up with their favorite character. From the news clip, it doesn't seem like preschool Dora is going anywhere (I mean, if I had little ones, I'd be totally sick of the "backpack" song, but thank GOD), still I'm wondering how this new Dora will fly.

The hot new toy in this line is meant to be the Dora Links doll, which will allow girls to plug into an online Dora world.

According to Mattel Marketing VP Gina Sirard: “The doll really taps into a tween’s love of fashion and empowers girls to influence and change the ‘lives’ of Dora and her friends.” But I thought this doll was made for girls five and up? Five?! Sure, I had a love of fashion at five—if by fashion you mean pairing my mother's wedding veil with a sweet 60s jean jacket from my dad's closet, but I don't think that's what the new Dora's about.

I'm guessing her new face won't be far from the vomit-inducing faces of the Bratz dolls, and that the "mysteries" girls solve in the new online world will somehow involve Dora exploring a mall rather than say, a rainforest. The writers at Packaging Girlhood likewise doubt that the older Dora will stay true to the younger one—follow the link to read their take.

Dudes at Nick, I know you cannot touch the sales of Hannah Montana merch. No one can. No one can package and sell a teenage girl like Disney, so let's leave it to them. One company doing it is enough. As I understand it, preschool Dora sales are great...so why can't we just be happy about that? Legions of children are running around using the new Spanish they've learned from Dora. Zillions of little girls are now wishing they had a funky monkey sidekick to help them read maps and save the world. But that's about to go down the drain.

Maybe I'm being too gloom-and-doom about this, but I have little faith that any good can come from this makeover. To read the full press release, hop over to BusinessWire. Featured image by BusinessWire.